Scott boys and Gilmore Girls
by Wittyheroine
Summary: One Tree Hill crossover. Rory Gilmore meets Lucas Scott. Friendship first, then, maybe, something more.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I own neither oth or gg. I just let my psychotic mind run its chorus.

Summary: The worlds of Rory Gilmore and Lucas Scott collide. Enough said.

Chapter One

Scott boys and Gilmore Girls

"Oh my god...I thought I was going to die of laughter when Kirk started doing the chicken dance," Rory Gilmore said as she walked down the streets of Stars Hollow with her Mother, Lorelai.

"Classic," said Lorelai, "I will mock that man about it to his grave."

"Good party though," said Rory, who added, "its hard to imagine that Miss Patty is _that_ old."

"Only in physical years though, remember _darling,_" Lorelai repeated the old dance teachers words jokingly, "if you ask her, she's still twenty five with a great body."

"Ah, here's to another wonderful year of living, Miss Patty," said Rory, still laughing at the image of Kirk dancing while drunk at the party.

"Hey, so I was thinking, they're having an _I love Lucey _marathon on nick at night you want to get some junk food out and watch it?" Lorelai asked.

"Sure, why not?" said Rory. "I finished all my homework before the party."

"Good, then its Lucey and belly laughs for us," said Lorelai, and then, eyes twinkling mischeviously, "I'll race you hom-Hey! No fair! You got a head start!" The woman called as she ran after her already half way home daughter.

Still running, the two rounded the corner that lead to their house, and then stopped once they were in the drive way, Lorelai winning by a long shot, despite Rory's head start. "Nananeener! You don't have a weener!" Lorelai said in a sing song voice, doing a little victory dance.

Rory rolled her eyes at her Mom, but couldn't help but smirk at the womans craziness. Here she was, thirty-something, and she still acted like a five year-old. Sometimes Rory wondered if she really was the kid.

It was just then that Rory noticed something peculiar across the street at the house next door. There was a red truck there and two men, one older, about her Moms age, and the other one a teenager around her age. They were unloading boxes from the backseat of the car.

"Mom," Rory said, "look at that."

"Rory, do not try and distract me from my taunting you," said Lorelai, who was continuing her victory dance.

Rory rolled her eyes. "No, Mom, I'm serious, look," she pointed to the two guys across the street, and Lorelai stopped her silly dance, and looked in the direction of Rory's pointed finger.

"Hey, those must be our new neighbors," said Lorelai.

"No shit sherlock," said Rory, who added, "I hope their not like the Haymonds were with their obsessive lawn gnome collection."

"Me too. I hated those things," said Lorelai, "I had nightmares about them for a week."

"Let's go say hi," said Rory.

"Meh. Do we have to? They look scary," said the older woman, pouting like a child.

"Yes," said Rory firmly, "its customary to introduce yourself to the new neighbors."

"Nooooooo!" Lorelai howled as Rory dragged the reluctant woman over to the other side of the street where the two guys were. On they're way over, the younger of the two, a tall blonde turned to look at them.

It was then that Rory stopped dead in her tracks, much to an objecting Lorelai's surprise. The girl went rigid with shock. "Uh...hun, are you okay?" Lorelai asked. "Because you look like you've just seen a psycho killer."

"No, worse," she said, "much, much worst. I just saw a ghost."

Lorelai looked around bewildered. "Really? I don't see Casper anywhere."

"No, Mom, not a real one," she said, "a ghost from my past, as in a person I used to know."

"Okay, well why didn't you just _say_ that?" said Lorelai. "I know your smart, but mama isn't and doesn't always understand those metaphores you use."

"Our new neighbor is _Tristin,_" she said, spitting the name out as though it were a dirty curse word.

Lorelai's eyes widdened and she looked at the blonde guy. Pointing, she said, "That piece of ass right there is Tristin? The spawn of satan? The guy who tormented you?"

Rory nodded. "He is _not_ a piece of ass."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "C'mon, lets go say hi. We've got a mini Brad Pitt living on our street, and I want to go meet him, even if he is the devils child."

"No, no, no, no, no, I beg of you, no," Rory pleaded, "I hate him. Mom, he tortured me my first year of Chilton! I don't want to go say hi to that bastard-"

Lorelai, however, ignored her childs plea's, and proceeded to drag her daughter over to the neighbors house. The blonde guy, who Rory said was Tristin, had just closed the door of the truck and turned to look at the two of them.

"Keith!" he called. "We've got visitors."

The man named Keith came out, looking like an older version of Tristin. Lorelai was grinning so much one would think that the grin was about to come off her face, and Rory just looked irritated by the whole situation.

"Hi," she said, "I'm Lorelai. Lorelai Gilmore. You must be our new neighbors."

"Yeah," said Keith, "I'm Keith. Keith Scott. We just moved here from Tree Hill, North Carolina."

"Huh," said Lorelai, "nice place, I've heard. I had a friend who watched a friends home there once."

Lorelai nudged Rory to get her to say something. Rory sighed. "I'm Rory. Rory, R-o-r-y. Not Mary, Rory."

"Well, at least you said _something_," Lorelai whispered into her ear, "although it would have been nice if you could have been politer."

"Mom, when he's polite, I'll be polite," Rory hissed.

"Nice to meet you Rory," said Keith, "this here's my nephew, Lucas Scott."

Rory looked at Lucas, a confused expression on her face. "Wait, your Lucas Scott?" she blurted out.

"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too," said Lucas, confused by the situation, "do you know me or something?"

"No, I just, I uh..."Rory stammered, trying how best to explain her reaction, although it was rather hard, considering at this point, Lorelai was rolled over in laughter at the entire situation and Rory was attempting not to kill her mother. Keith and Lucas shared confused expressions with each other.

Rory sighed. "No, its just I thought you were someone else," she said.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Who? Because I have yet to meet a person that looks like me."

"This kid that used to go to my school," said Rory, "Tristin Dugrey. I swear, your like the spitting image of him."

Lucas quirked a brow. "He a jackass?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Luke, looks like you've got an evil clone somewhere," said Keith.

"Actually, he moved to North Carolina a while ago," said Rory, "which is really bizarre, considering your from there."

"Huh," said Lucas, "what an amazing coincidence."

Keith was still staring at the laughing Lorelai. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked, looking at her Mother like she was a crazed woman.

"Yeah, she's just got too much coffee in her system," said Rory, "she'll calm down once she gets home."

"Okay," said Keith, doubtful.

Then, as an after thought, Rory asked, "Hey, Luke, are you going to Stars Hollow high?"

"No, Chilton actually," Lucas answered, "Keith's teaching shop class there, so I get to go for free."

Rory grinned. From what she had seen of him so far, Lucas seemed like a pretty okay guy. As an added bonus, he would be going to Chilton. Maybe now she'd actually have a friend and the principal would stop nagging at her to socialize.

"Cool," said Rory, "I actually go there too. Small world."

"Yeah," said Lucas, with a smirk that so reminded her of that pseudo-playboy she had known, Tristin, but was completely different, because it was friendly, not trying to be seductive, "small world."

"Well Rory, do you have a ride home to school? Maybe Lucas could give you one," Keith offered.

"Actually, I ride the bus," said Rory.

"Oh, man, that sucks," said Lucas, "I'd be happy to give you a ride..."

"No, its okay," said Rory, not wanting him to feel obligated to taking her home because she was their neighbor, "I like public transportation."

Lucas laughed, and said, "Look, its no big deal. We'll meet outside of the school tommorrow and I can take you home. Its not like its out of my way or anything."

"Well, if it doesn't bother you..."

"Not at all," said Lucas, "just consider this a begining of our friendship."

Rory smiled. "Alright then," she said, and then looked at her Mother, who had finally stood up, but was still laughing, "I think I better get her home."

"You do that," said Keith, and added, "nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too," Rory said, and added, turning to Lucas, "and you."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "I guess I'll see you tommorrow."

"Yeah, tommorrow," said Rory, and with that, she waved goodbye, and started dragging the laughing Lorelai back home.

"Good bye bible boy!" Lorelai called to Lucas, and Rory just shook her head. Really, why did she get the insane mother?

Lucas and Keith watched the two brunnetts walk of with bemused expressions upon their faces. Keith chuckled, and so did Luke. "Well," said Keith, "there goes our new neighbors. We got away from Dan, and yet we still came to another town with psychos in it."

Lucas let out a laugh. "Yeah, he said, and added, "I do like Rory though."

"Yeah," said Keith, "nice kid. Kind of reminds me of Haley."

Lucas groaned. "Let's just hope Rory never meets Nathan so they won't go and get married too," he said.

Keith chuckled again, saying, "I don't think you have to worry about that. He's already got one wife, and you can't have two."

Smirking, Lucas asked, "What do you think of Lorelai?"

Keith shook her head. "The womans insane," said Keith, and then, smiling, "but I think I like her. I don't think anything romantic will come from it though."

"Still in love with my Mom?" questioned Lucas.

"Old habits die hard," Keith said simply, and Lucas took that as a 'yes'.

"What about you Luke?" his uncle asked. "Thinking about dating Rory?"

Lucas shook his head furiously. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no."

"I'm guessing thats a no?"

"Exactly," said Lucas, "after Brooke and Peyton, I don't want to deal with girls for a while."

"Smart plan," said Keith, "I think I'll do the same. C'mon, lets go inside and order some food."

With that, the two Scott's went up the stairs of the porch and inside to the house.

Back in the Gilmore home, Rory and Lorelai sat down in the living room, watching _I love Lucey. _"I still can't believe you thought Lucas was Tristin," said Lorelai.

"Hey, anyone else would have made the same mistake," defended Rory, "they look exactly alike! Its earie! I swear, its like someone cloned them."

"Maybe they did and they were sent to two different parts of the earth."

"Sure, Mom, and I dated a martian," Rory said sarcastically."

Lorelai laughed. "So, what do you think of our Mr. Lucas Scott?"

"I think he'll make a good friend."

"Oh my god-how can you say that? The boy is dating material. Did you look at his ass? They shouldn't call him Lucas. They should call him _Lucass_!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Mom! You perve-you looked at a sixteen year-old guys ass?"

"Hey, you look at David Boreanaz's ass, and he's forty, married, has a kid, _and_ plays a dead vampire with a soul on television," Lorelai shot back.

"Beside the point."

"So the point."

"Hey, Mom, what do you think of Keith?"

Lorelai suddenly got very quiet and Rory could have sworn that she saw the woman blush. "Yeah, that's what I thought," said Rory, "shut it."

They both turned back to watching the t.v., conversation ended.

**A/N: So, what do you think? Is it worthy of my continuing it? Yes. I will continue Something in the way, I swear. I just need to get past the writers block I have on that story. In the meanwhile, please tell me what you think of my new fic. The good, the bad, the ugly. Damn. My fingers hurt. TWELVE PAGES FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER:) **


	2. Goody Goody Gilmore and the Chilton King

**Disclaimer: As much as I would like to, I sadly own neither Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill. I just screw their worlds up a little. :) **

**Summary: One Tree Hill Crossover. The worlds of Rory Gilmore and Lucas Scott collide. Enough said. **

The next morning, Rory and Lucas drove to Chilton, having a nice conversation along the way. "Okay, so, what about your Mom?" Rory asked.

"Got pregnant with me during high school," answered Lucas, "she's great though. She runs a cafe in Tree Hill."

"Free coffee? Lucky," said Rory, who added, "I find it kind of weird though that our Moms had the same situation. I mean, my Mom got pregnant at sixteen too."

"Really?" Lucas said, amazed."Wow. I don't think I've met anyone else whose come from the same background as me."

"Same here," said Rory, "but then again, its not common in Stars Hollow."

"Yeah," said Lucas, adding, "what's up with that place anyhow? It reminds me of something out of a novel."

"Its very...different," said Rory, "we like our traditions and holidays are a very big thing there. But everyone's nice and they all pitch in to help whoever needs it. When my Mom moved here with me, everyone sort of adopted me."

"Thats cool," said Lucas, "people in Tree hill aren't the same. Teen pregnancy is something they're sort of touchy about. But then again, I guess it didn't help that I was the pauper son."

"Pauper son?" Rory echoed.

"Yeah. You see, my Dad was this bigshot basketball player in high school, and he got my mom pregnant, and then chose a college basketball scholarship over me. Three months later, he met Deb, and got her pregnant with my brother Nathan. When Dan, my Dad, came back to Tree Hill with Deb and Nathan, he wouldn't acknowledge me as his son, and still doesn't to this day."

"Wow, sounds like the makings of a W.B. drama," said Rory, and added, "So why'd to come here to Stars Hollow with your uncle?"

"I had some stuff I needed to get away from," said Lucas, and then to change the subject he added, "so what about your Mom and Dad?"

"Dad got Mom pregnant at sixteen, but he did propose. Both their parents wanted them to get married, but Mom didn't. She just wasn't ready. So she took me and moved to Stars Hollow."

"How freaky is that? Our lives are just too much a like," said Lucas.

"Yeah, that is freaky," said Rory.

They pulled up into the Chilton parking lot and Lucas looked at it in shock. "That's a school?" he asked, surprise in his voice.

"Yep," said Rory.

"Are you sure its not a torture chamber?" Lucas joked.

"Not all of it," said Rory, "the torture chambers some place underneath the detention room."

"Wow...gee, Mommy, I think I'm going to need you to hold my hand when we go into the big, scary, building," said Luke sarcastically.

Rory shook her head, laughing. "C'mon Lucas," she said, "lets go."

The two got out of the truck and went inside, and it did not go unnoticed to the passerbyers that they were standing rather close together. Of course, Rory and Lucas didn't notice.

Louise, Madeline, and Paris all stood outside Chilton. "Oh god, I really hate this hell hole," said Madeline.

"Agreed," said Louise, who added, "why can't we have summer all year round?"

"Because," said Paris, "if we had summer all year round, the earth wouldn't be able to go through its natural process of changing, and then we'd all be screwed."

"Well, someones cheery," said Louise.

"Yeah, well, its another year with that goody-goody Gilmore, what can you expect?"

It was then that Louise and Madeline noticed something so strange, it was like it had popped out of _The Twilight Zone_. "Oh my god!" Louise exclaimed, so shocked that she nearly fell down and had to grab onto Madeline for support.

"What?" Paris asked, confused.

"Oh my god!" Madeline repeated, looking at Louise, and then at the sight the two of them had just saw.

"Okay, are you two having a seizure or something? Should I go get the nurse?"

"Uh, Paris, I wouldn't turn around if I were you..."

"What? Is the lochness monster behind me or something?"

"No, something about ten times worse."

"You two are being ridiculous..." Paris started on a rant about their immaturity as she turned around to see what they were looking at and found herself met with a shocking sight.

Tristin Dugrey and Rory Gilmore were walking up to Chilton, standing fairly close, laughing and talking like they were...dating.

Madeline and Louise waited for Paris's reaction.

"Fuck!" the uptight blonde exclaimed, a shocked look in her eyes.

"Well, well, well," said Louise, "the king of chilton and the goody two shoes. This is a charming new development."

**A/N: So, what do you think? There's chapter two for you. Hee hee. That rhymed. two for you. Sounds like the name of a bad boy band. Admittedly, this chapter was a lot shorter then my last one, but it was something that kind of had to be short, as there was no possible way to make this scene any longer then it is. **

**Thanks to those of whom reviewed the first chapter: **

**princetongirl: I hope you liked the update. **

**ForeverrAnime: Thanks for the review. Thanks for putting me on your favorites list too. gives cookie **

**HadLeeMay: Yeah. I came across a couple Oth and GG crossover fics and thought I'd write one of my own. I thought that was the best place to start since it would explain why Keith and Lucas were in Stars Hollow. Also, I wanted Rory and Lucas to both be in high school so...**

**Druzilla: Aw. Thanks. **

**Sum41rocks: Thanks. I figured since they're played by the same actor, Rory would naturally confuse them. **

**trorychick06: Thanks for the review and putting me on your favorites list. I'm glad you like it. :) gives cookie **

**solodancer: Glad you feel its worthy of continuation. Thanks. :) **

**mystripedskirt: Hee hee. He DOES have a nice ass. :) **

**Fallen Heart: Aw. You rock for reviewing yet ANOTHER one of my stories. :) Oh yeah, you and Dru both. I feel special. Tee hee. I've got loyal followers. :) Thanks. **


	3. Paris, confusion, and the bus stop

Disclaimer: I own nothing. But I'll give you this ball of lint:)

Summary: The worlds of Rory Gilmore and Lucas Scott collide. Enough said.

Lucas Scott had just been confronted with the scariest thing...okay, not a thing, but a person, that he had seen in his life. That said person was currently yelling at him and was in the form of a blonde, high school girl, who evidently needed therapy.

"Tristin Janlen Dugrey!" The blonde yelled. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back? Why didn't you write? Why didn't you tell me you were coming back? And WHY are you dating Gilmore!"

Lucas looked at Rory with a confused expression on his face. He had no idea who this girl was. Rory stood there, attempting not to snicker. Several people in the hallway were now looking at the screaming girl that was their crazed class mate.

"Um," said Lucas, "do I know you?"

"Har, har, Dugrey," said Paris with sarcasm in her voice, "do I know you? Honestly. Only since we were in kindergarten."

"Paris," said Rory.

The girl ignored her and went onto a rant about 'Tristin's' immaturity and how stupid it was to pretend that he didn't know her. She also called him a few choice curse words.

"Paris," Rory tried again.

However, the girl still didn't stop, and just continued on ranting.

"Paris," Lucas repeated the girls name that Rory had said, "I'm not Tristin Dugrey."

Paris stopped her rant and snorted. "Yeah, sure," she said, "then who are you-his evil clone?"

"Well, from what I've heard of this guy, I'm apparently the good one," said Lucas.

"_Sure_," said Paris, still disbelieving.

"Paris, really, this isn't Tristin," said Rory.

"Sure it isn't Gilmore," she said, "don't even get me started on you. I mean, _really_. All that ranting about how much you hated him. God, you are the biggest liar."

"Paris," said Rory, "he's really not Tristin. I swear. His names Lucas Scott, and he's my new neighbor, and him and his uncle just moved here from Tree Hill so that his uncle could teach shop class at Chilton."

Paris looked at the two of them suspiciously, for any sign that the two of them were kidding. "I don't believe you," said Paris, "I think thats a load of horse manuare and that I'm being punk'd."

Rory sighed. "What do you want us to do to prove to you that we're telling the truth?"

Paris looked at Lucas. "If you're not Tristin, then you won't know the answer to this question-what happened in the sandbox when we were five that you made me swear never to tell anyone?"

"Um..." Lucas had no idea what to say to that because, obviously, he didn't know the answer.

Then Paris Gellar, for the second time that day, exclaimed, "Fuck!"

Lucas just shook his head. "Lucas Scott," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake, "nice to meet you."

Paris shook his hand. "Paris Gellar," she said, looking back and forth from him to Rory, "are you two dating?"

"What? No," Lucas and Rory said in unison and they both burst out laughing at the idea.

"Huh," said Paris, "whatever you say. You should though. You'd make a cute couple."

With that, Paris walked off with her fellow witches of eastwick, Madeline and Louise following her.

"So," said Lucas, "thats a Paris?"

Rory nodded. "That's a Paris."

"Well, that is the scariest thing next to _It,_" said Lucas.

"Agreed," said Rory.

The day past quickly for the two of them, and Rory and Lucas were lucky enough to have four classes with each other, during which, they both sat by one another. Come lunch time, the two sat in Rory's usual seat at the back of the cafeteria together.

"Its weird," said Lucas, "people keep staring at me."

"Well, when you look like someone else's clone, that's bound to be expected," said Rory.

"I had someone come up to me today and high five me," said Lucas, "he then asked if I was getting back with Summer and he called me 'The Man'."

Rory chuckled. "You'll have to excuse the stupidity of this school," said Rory, "its called Chilton, but it really should be called Idioton."

"Apparently," said Lucas, "just who exactly was this Tristin Dugrey dude?"

"He was a popular, pseudo-playboy with a father who probably had more money then God and was pretty much a jerk," said Rory, "well at least to me."

"Okay, I really don't like knowing that there is someone out there who looks exactly like me and acts like my brother did before he started dating my best friend," said Lucas, "that's just scary."

Rory now became interested at the words 'best friend'. "What's your best friend like?"

"Her names Haley and we've known each other forever," said Lucas, "she's really down to earth, sweet, and your typical good girl. Kind of like you." Here, he smiled.

"Well, I have to meet this girl," said Rory.

"Maybe one of these days you will," said Lucas, "we could go to Tree Hill during spring break or something."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," said Rory.

Now done with his lunch, Lucas rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the paper back novel he had brought with him to read. A boy who reads...this got Rory's attention.

"You read?" Rory asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Lucas answered, "that a bad thing?"

"No," said Rory, "actually in my book its a very good thing. I'm actually a bookworm myself. Actually, that's one of the things my Mom likes about me, is that come holidays, like Christmas or my birthday, I'm so easy to shop for, because if you just get me books, then I'm happy."

"Cool," said Lucas, "I'm glad we have that in common. What are you reading now?"

"_Les Misbreles,_" said Rory, "its probably the millionth time that I've read it, but I can't help it. Victor Hugo's work is amazing."

Lucas smiled. "I love that book too," he said, "its funny, because Haley, my friend that I told you about, actually read it first, and she became obsessed with it. She spent a week trying to get me to read it, and finally I did. I got hooked."

"Its just so amazing how Jean Valen goes from being a crook to being this really respeted man and then having to go into hiding because he confesses," said Rory, "and I loved the relationship between Fantine's daughter and himself."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "its a pretty amazing story. Although, personally, I didn't like the movie version. I rented it out of curiousity after having the book, and it just annoyed me, because I'd already had my idea of what the characters looked like in my head, and then when I read the book again, I kept on picturing the actors as the characters."

"That is annoying when they do that," said Rory, "turn books into movies. The only book to movie that I've ever liked has been The Harry Potter ones, and A walk to remember, because the Harry Potter movies were exactly like I'd imagined in the book. And I didn't mind A walk to remember getting turned into a movie, because the movie and book were like two seperate stories, so you could go back to read the book, and still picture the characters like you imagined them."

"I've never read _A walk to remember_ or seen the movie," Lucas admitted.

"Well, thats not surprising," said Rory, "its not exactly a story a guy would read, nor is the movie something a guy would watch. But Nicholas Sparks is an awsome author and he has such a way of writing. His stories tug at your heartstrings."

Lucas chuckled at the enthusiam that Rory used when she spoke of the author and the book. "I'll take your word for it," he said.

It was then that Keith walked over to their table, much to their surprise. "Hey guys," he said, "mind if I sit down here? The french teacher was in the teachers lounge and kept on giving me weird looks, so I thought I'd come and sit down with my two favorite students."

"Yeah, c'mon," said Lucas, pulling out a chair for his uncle to sit down on.

"The french teachers Mrs. Tinley," said Rory, "she always gets an obsession with the new teachers especially if their male. She's kind of creepy."

"Yeah, I gathered," Keith said, and then added, "so hows the first day going, Luke?"

"Well, pretty good, except for the fact that I got yelled at by a blonde, scary teenage girl, who confused me with my evil clone, and the teachers all give me dirty looks the instant I walk into the room because they seem to think I'm him, and then I had some random person come up to me and start talking about some girl that I don't even know," said Lucas.

"What, does this kid look and sound exactly like you or something?" said Keith.

"Down to the ears," said Rory.

"That's freaky, and kind of disturbing," he said.

"Its even more disturbing when you get random people coming up to you and yelling at you for something that you didn't do," said Luke.

Just then, as if to prove a point, a tall guy with messy brown hair came up and slapped him on the back. "Dude! Dugrey's back! I'll tell you man, this is going to be one hell of a year. It was fucking boring without you here, man."

"Ahem," Keith cleared his throat so as to make sure that the kid knew there was a teacher present, "watch your language _man_."

The guy then noticed Keith and said, "Oh. Sorry teach."

"No problem, just watch it next time," said Keith.

The guy turned back to "Tristin" who was actually Lucas. "So, are you going out for football man? We need you out there."

Rory was resisting the urge not to laugh at Lucas's expression which had had a habit of showing how confused he was a lot today. "Um...do I know you?" Lucas asked.

"Aw, man, thats _cold_," said the guy, "know me? Of course you know me! Dude, how could you forget?"

"Uh, sorry, _dude_, but you've got me confused with someone else," said Lucas.

The guy looked confused and then laughed. "Yeah, right," he said, "good one Dugrey. I've heard there was a rumor you were pretending to be some kid called Lucas Scott, but I'd know you anywhere. Your Tristin Dugrey, the one and only."

Lucas turned to Rory and silently pleaded with her to get the point across. Rory sighed, and said, "I'm sorry, but he's really not Tristin Dugrey. This is Lucas Scott, my neighbor, and this is uncle, Keith Scott, the new shop teacher."

Keith waved at the student, chuckling at the situation. He had found the whole thing very amusing and watching Lucas's expressios during the whole thing had been just as entertaining.

The guy, like all the others, looked utterly confused and shocked at the situation, looked at Lucas once more, and exclaimed, "Fuck." With that he walked off, scratching his head.

Rory laughed. "You know, you seem to have that effect on a lot of people."

"I know," said Lucas, jokingly, "its the damndest thing and I just can't figure out why."

"Mystery to me," she said.

Keith spoke up, saying, "You know, maybe you should just put one of those stickers on that says 'Hello, I'm' and then put Lucas Scott."

"The kind that they would always hand out on field trips in elementary school?" said Lucas. "i hated those things.

The school day went rather fast for the two of them, and before she knew it, Rory and Lucas were driving back to Stars Hollow. It was then that Rory remembered that her boyfriend, Dean, was suppossed to meet her at the bus stop and that was originally why she had wanted to take the bus.

"Oh shit!" she exclaimed as they were on their way home.

Lucas looked at her, concerned. "What did you forget something at school?" he asked. "Because I can turn back now if you want me to-"

"No," she said, "its just...nevermind."

"Aw, c'mon Rory," he said, "tell me what it is. Maybe I can help you out."

Rory sighed. "I was suppossed to meet Dean at the bus stop back in Stars Hollow," said Rory.

Lucas for some odd reason felt a twinge of jealousy. "Whose Dean?" he asked.

"My boyfriend," she said, "god, he's going to freak if he see's me getting out of the truck with you, especially if he thinks your Tristin, because he didn't exactly like Tristin."

"Oh," said Lucas, "that's bad."

"Very bad," said Rory.

"Well, I guess I'm just going to have to pull a speed racer and get you to the bus stop before he gets there," said Lucas.

"Oh thank god! You are a life saver," said Rory.

"Its alright," said Lucas, "I wouldn't want you in trouble with your boyfriend. Now, lets hope I can drive as fast as Peyton does."

"Peyton?" Rory asked, confused.

"Friend of mine from Tree Hill with a speed thing," said Lucas.

"Oh," said Rory, and she silently wondered if maybe Peyton had been more then just a friend to Lucas.

With that, Lucas pressed the gas pedal harder, and the truck went faster. Eventually, they were in Stars Hollow.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry," said Rory.

"Calm down, I'll get you there," said Lucas, laughing at the girls impatience, "this guy must be some boyfriend."

"That he-" Rory stopped mid sentence, ducking in her seat, as though hiding from something or someone.

"Um, Rory?" Lucas said.

"Boyfriend walking down the street, didn't want him to see me," she said.

"Ah," said Lucas, and then he looked on both sides of the street, "which one is he?"

"Tall guy with floppy brown hair and a leather jacket," said Rory.

Lucas looked and saw him crossing the street. For some reason, Lucas felt that him and this Dean guy probably weren't going to get along. Lucas quickly drove to the bus stop, where Rory finally sat up, grabbed her stuff, and got out.

"Thank you Luke," she said, "I'm sorry about that."

"Nah," he said, "no problem. Just don't forget to tell your boyfriend you're getting a ride home next time."

"Sure," said Rory.

There was a pause. "Thanks again," she said, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "you're welcome." With that he drove off back to the Scott home.

Jess Mariano watched the scene unfold with interest. He had purposefully sat down on the bench across from the bus stop to read his book so he could go over and harass Rory's boyfriend for the fun of it, and so he could see Rory. Upon hearing the girls voice, the he saw a very interesting sight.

Rory Gilmore was getting out of a red truck, driven by a blonde haired guy, and not off the bus. She exchanged conversation with the driver, thanked him, and the guy drove off.

If Jess was not mistaken, that was the new kid who had just moved to Stars Hollow that everyone kept on talking about.

He watched as Rory's bagboy boyfriend Dean approached, and she turned, smiled, and said, "Hi."

"Hi," said Dean with a look of surprise on his face, "you're here early."

"Yeah, well, the bus driver had a good day and there wasn't that much traffic," said Rory.

"Well," said Dean, "this is a nice surprise."

"Very nice indeed," said Rory.

The two walked off, and it was a good thing, because Jess was about to puke at how disgustingly cute the couple was. As the couple walked off, Jess saw the bus pull up to the bus stop, its doors opening, and the riders getting out.

He raised an eyebrow, and looked at Rory and Dean, who had just turned the street corner. Something very odd was going on.

**A/N: Meh. It killed me to write that chapter. I really, really, despise Dean. I don't mind Jess though. How typical of me to have a love triangle. lol. Two, actually. Yes, there is going to be a Keith-Lorelai-Luke triangle. Just for those of you who are going into panic mode, yes Lorelai will end up with Luke. Unless I get like ten reviews saying they want differently or something. I didn't think this story would be that popular, considering how other Oth/GG stories haven't done that well. Yes, I've read some of them, so it was a big leap for me to write this story, knowing that it might suck. But apparently people like it. Thanks to the following: **

**Summerhun3: Glad you think so. **

**Callista Wolfwood: Tee hee. Thanks. Everyone seems to really like that part too. **

**Jazz14: You have to read to find out. Tee hee. **

**alexceasar: Aw. Thanks. I'm glad it had good characterization. I try as hard as I can. **

**blackroseangel69: Wow. I feel special. Thank you! **

**SnowyOwl17: Did it come fast enough? lol. **

**Skellington-theory: Thanks. :) **

**royaleye: I figured that sense their played by the same actor they would naturally get confused. Not to mention that no one else had done that in any of their Oth/GG crossovers so I thought I'd be original. **

**kiwifruit03**

**beautifulbutterfly: I don't know either. I think Luke and Lorelai will get together in this fic, but I have to wait and see what people think of the Keith and Lorelai thing. **

**piper-h-99: Thanks for adding me to your favorites list. I don't remember if I thanked you or not when I updated something in the way. If not, thank you. gives cookie **

**queenmischa: Thank you so much. hugs **

**Fallen Heart: Aw. Thank you. hugs **

**Sum41rocks: Thanks. I thought that'd be the appropriate reaction. lol. **

**four51: Yeah. Its over used. It wasn't suppossed to be in there but my computer is stupid and apparently didn't save the copy when I deleated it. **

**trorychick06: Thanks. **

**x-identaty: ;) Yep. Thanks for the review. **

**princetongirl:) **

**TiCkLeDpInK22: Thank you. :) **

**solodancer: I don't think this was as fast as the last one, but I'm working on another story too, so I had to go kind of slow. **

**Druzilla: Tee hee. Paris's reaction wasn't too stupid was it? I hope not. :) **

**aphi72: Thank you so much for reviewing. :) **

**Love n' stars,  
Cambria **

**p.s I don't know how soon the next update will be for Scott boys and Gilmore Girls or Something in the way for that matter as I'm going on my eigth grade trip in three days. YES! I get to go to Massachucetts, Philadalphia, New York, and Washington D.C. And I get to see Harvard. Yayness. Sadly not Yale but oh well. I'll live. **


	4. IM's with the past

**Disclaimer- I own neither One Tree Hill or Gilmore Girls. **

He stared at the screen, seeing her screenname on his buddy list, not quite sure if he should instant message her or not. Lucas knew full well that he had left things a mess between them, and probably should stay away, but he decided to instant message her anyway.

**Lucas101: **Hey, Keith and I just moved into our new house the other day, and I just wanted to say hi.

**PSawyer: **Wow, this is a surprise. I thought Mr. Privet school wouldn't want to talk to us normal kids anymore.

Lucas laughed. You had to love Peyton and her sarcasm. He wasn't instant messaging her to attempt to talk about the way they left things. God, no he wasn't going to go dig _that_ up again. Instead, he thought he'd ask about his best friend and new sister-in-law.

**Lucas101:** So, how's the new Mrs. Scott?

**PSawyer: **She's fine-still Haley. Although I think she misses you. You should call her. God----Haley and Nathan, married. They're so young-only sixteen.

**Lucas101: **Yeah, I know, but its what Haley's always wanted-other then to be a musican. I remember when we were kids, she'd always force me and the guys from the court into playing house, and I'd always have to be the Dad.

**PSawyer: **lol. Well, I guess she got the Scott part right, just not the blonde one.

**Lucas101: **Ha ha. Speaking of which, how is my lil' bro?

**PSawyer: **"The lil' bro" stuff is freaking me out. He's fine, just as happy as Haley. They aren't both glowing yet, so I think its safe to say that she's not pregnant, despite what Brooke thinks.

**Lucas101: -**instert awkward silence-

**PSawyer: **Oh. Sorry about that-shouldn't have brought up the ex. Okay, change of subject. Hows the new school?

**Lucas101: **Psychotic, and snotty.

**PSawyer: **Huh. Just like Tree Hill high.

**Lucas101: **lol. Only without the Devil around...speaking of which, he make it through his heart attack?

**PSawyer: **Yeah, Dan did---unfortunately. It looks like you're going to have to put up with "Daddy Dearest" a little while more.

Lucas started to type something and then deleated it. He wasn't sure if he should bring up the past. With hesitation, he typed:

**Lucas101: **I probably shouldn't be asking this, but with all that's happened, I just want to know, can we just forgive and forget?

There was a long pause in between waiting for her response.

**PSawyer: **Of course Luke.

He smiled, and started to type something, but then the curly, blonde haired punker chick all the way in Tree Hill, signed off suddenly. Lucas sighed, and ran a hand over his head. Yeah, that was a _bad_ idea.

**A/N: Short chapter, I know, but I just need to get back into fanfic writing mode. I am BACK finally after a long hiatus. I've been back from my trip a few weeks now, and it was great, but all the guys were acting weird, especially my worst enemy, who was freakishly nice to me. They're all back to being pain in the butts now. I don't get the male species. I really don't. **

**Callista Wolfwood**

**B-C Dancer-lol. Lory is probably the best Lucas/Rory name I've heard yet. **

**coffeegrl **

**dukegrl4-Thanks. I'm actually considering making it a Lorelai/Keith thing. Keith needs a woman thats not a hussy Dan hired to make him miserable. lol. **

**Peanutbutterluver1399- hugs Thanks! **

**Girl number 1- Don't worry, Jess won't be some evil dude. After all, Lucas needs at least ONE friend OTHER then Rory in Stars Hollow. **

**beautifulbutterfly-Aw thanks. I try and mention everyone who reviews the story. The trip was great, but tiring. **

**piper-h-99 **

**Sum41rocks-Tee hee. Wait until you see DEAN'S reaction when he see's Lucas. **

**ForeverrAnime**

**drkkitsune**

**Snowyowl17-Sadly, this one wasn't as fast as my previous updates. Too much damn shit going on between stupid popular people at school and my family. **

**Summerhun3- Thankyou:) **

**TiCkLeDpInK22-It wasn't for the entire eigth grade, just for those who could afford to go, and even then, my Mom had to ask a friend of hers for money. It was fun though. I embarressed one of the many people I despise, so it was worth it. **

**hunibuni479-Yes! There's another out there like me. Thank god for that. I think everyone despises Dean. **

**solodancer-lol. Paris is SO much fun to write when she's freaking out. **

**princetongrrl-Rory will definately choose Lucas. Dean annoys me to no end, and Jess is more of the friend type. My evil mind is plotting and I'm seriously thinking of making yet another odd couple between Jess and Louise or possibly Jess and Brooke. **

**Druzilla-lol. Thanks. I can garuntee you its going to be one hell of a story. **

**So...I have to take a poll for future chapters. If you are a Keith and Lorelai fan now that the idea has been suggested, put KL, KSLG or something along the lines of that at the end of your review. And if you want Jess and Louise together, put JL and if you want Jess and Brooke together, put JB. **

**Yes, I have odd pairings, I know, but my mind works in strange ways. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **

**P.S If you want to here some of my ramblings, see my fanart, and etc. visit my new website at: **


	5. That New Kid thing

Disclaimer- I own nothing.

Chapter five

That New Kid thing

Rory Gilmore was inside a bookstore, scanning it to see if there was anything she hadn't read. So far, she was having no such luck. Maybe she should just ask Lucas if he could recommend anything to read----

"So, you really have a thing for new guys, don't you?" The very familiar voice of Jess scared her from behind, making her jump.

"Jess!" She squeaked. "God, what are you doing? Attempting to give me a heart attack?"

"You didn't answer the question," Jess said.

Rory raised an eyebrow. "What question?"

"Wow, Gilmore's loosing her hearing, the world is coming to an end," he said with some of that typical sarcasm that came so naturally to the city boy.

Rory sighed, infuriated. "What question?" she repeated.

"I asked, quote, 'So, you really have a thing for new guys, don't you?'," he repeated his question.

Rory raised an eyebrow, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it," said Jess, "Dean was a new kid, now your dating him, I was the new kid, and you _kissed _me, while you were dating Dean, I might add, and now, yet another new kid, Brucas or whatever---"

"Lucas," said Rory through gritted teeth, "his name is Lucas."

"Right. Anyway, this new kid, Lucas, comes to town, and suddenly, you've diverted your attention to him."

"How do you know that I've given him _any_ attention?" Rory questioned.

"Gee, I don't know, was that, or wasn't that, you getting out of a certain red truck with a certain blonde yesterday at the bus stop?"

Rory sighed. "Fine, yeah, it was. But so what? Lucas and I are just friends and...god, this doesn't matter. Why am I explaining myself to you? You're not boyfriend. What I do is none of your concern."

"Yeah. You're right," said Jess, "I'm not your boyfriend, and its not my concern. But _Dean _is your boyfriend, and _Dean_ might be concerned."

"What are you hinting at?"

"Nothing," said Jess, smirking, "its just, you know, you might want to be careful who you let in on about your _friend_ Lucas. You never know when a little birdy might let something slip."

"Well, it doesn't matter, 'cause there's nothing to _slip_," said Rory, "have a great day, Diner-boy."

With that, Rory exited the bookstore in a huff.

**A/N: So there's chapter five. I know, I took forever to do it. Life gets in the way, though, and you forget about things like these. But it's up, finally. Short, but up. I'll make up for it in Chapter six. Right now, there's a lot of Keith and Lorelai votes. And Jess and Brooke. It should be interesting. I'm edging more and more towards Keith and Lorelai being put together. Jess and Brooke is a no brainer. They'd actually work well together. **

**MsJML- Thanks. I know. Rory and Lucas rock. **

**Callista Wolfwood- I'm glad you do. I hope you liked the new chapter. **

**SnowyOwl-17-Thanks. As mentioned up above, it will most likely end up a Keith and Lorelai story. **

**Padfoot n' moony - ;) **

**jmarit17- Just wait until good ol' Dean hears about it. **

**beautifulbutterfly- Thanks. I'm glad you like it. ;) **

**TiCkLeDpInK22-Yeah, I know. Outrageous isn't it? But my mind works in odd ways. I like couples that are going to be fun to right, and I think Jess and Brooke would be a fun couple to write. **

**x-indentaty-Thanks. I'm glad you like it, and I will keep on experimenting. I promise. **

**Sum41rocks- lol. I never really thought of it as weird. Now, if it were, say, Lucas's Dad, that'd be weird. But Dan's evil anyway. lol. **

**KarahBellah **

**solodancer- Okay. So I guess I should give the highlights of the Lucas and Peyton "relationship" for those of you who don't watch oth. In oth season one, Lucas liked Peyton to start out with, but Peyton was dating Lucas's half-brother who was an ass as a boyfriend, so she broke up with him, and Lucas's half-brother went out with Haley, Lucas's best friend, afterwards. Lucas started dating Brooke, Peyton's best friend. Mean while, Peyton started liking a friend of Lucas's, Jake, but he left. Lucas cheated on Brooke with Peyton. Brooke found out about it ala Peyton's webcam, and it just became a big mess. But then Lucas left, and Brooke and Peyton worked it out. Need a better explanation? Read my fic, "Mixtape". **

**Druzilla **

**princetongirl-agreed. **

**A note of thanks to MsJML for adding me to the favorites list. **

**love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	6. Of new kid, books, toliets, and sex talk

Chapter six

Of new kid talk,book talk, toliet talk, and sex favors

Jess watched as Dean sat in the corner of the diner. Jess didn't really like that guy, and it wasn't just because of the feelings that he had for Rory. There was something about him that irked him, and he really couldn't stand him for whatever the reason.

Walking up to him, Jess sat down across from him. Dean gave him an odd look and then looked away, at the window to the bustling street outside. "What's this, no hello to your old buddy?" Jess said. It wasn't that he tried to be a smart ass, it was just that he naturally was.

"We're not buddies, Miriano," Dean hissed.

"Right well," said Jess, "just thought I'd come and say hello."

"Well you did," said Dean, "can you leave now?"

"Are you pmsing or something?"

"Is there a point to this conversation?"

"So _now _we're having a conversation?"

Dean glared at Jess and Jess noted that if looks could kill he would most likely be dead right about now. It was a good thing looks didn't have that kind of effect on a person.

"Jess, for once in your life, will you make god damn sense?" Dean demanded. "What the hell did you come over to talk to me about?"

"The new kid," said Jess.

"I'm not making small talk with you," said Dean.

"It's not small talk," said Jess, "its a warning."

"Warning? What kind of bull crap is this?"

Jess gave him an irritated look. "Look, you and I both know that we don't have much in common," said Jess, "but the one thing we do have in common is Rory. You're not blind, and I'm not blind. She's got a thing for new kids. You, me, it's fate that she'll have a thing for this guy."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Rory never had a thing for you," said Dean.

"That you know of," said Jess, and he added, "denial isn't good for the heart, buddy."

"Why are you telling me that she'll have a thing for the new guy?" said Dean.

"Because," Jess said, "Rory Gilmore isn't a girl you want to lose, so you have to keep her as long as you can."

Dean raised an eyebrow at that. "I won't ask," he said, and then added, "who is this new kid?"

"Lucas Scott," Jess answered, "of a one Chilton Academy."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "You're kidding," said Dean, "there's no way someone, besides Rory, lives in Stars Hollow and goes to Chilton."

"His uncle is the shop teacher there," said Jess.

"How'd you find all this out?" asked Dean.

"It's The Sticks, dude," said Jess, "ask Miss Patty and you can find anything out about anyone from what they ate for lunch to the percentage of non-virgin teenagers in this town. You'd be surprised at how many there are."

"Would you happen to know where I could find this new kid?" Dean asked.

"Give me five, and the answers all yours," said Jess.

"Minutes?"

"Dollars, moron," Jess corrected him.

"You've _got _to be kidding me," said Dean.

"I don't kid, my friend," said Jess.

Dean sighed and with reluctance he got out a five dollar bill. He handed it to Jess, and said, "Now tell me where I can find this Lucas kid."

"The basketball court, the one outside the school," said Jess.

"Right," said Dean.

Jess looked at him expectantly. "What?" Dean asked, confused.

"Don't I get a thank you?"

"_Riiiiight_," said Dean, "no, you don't get a thank you."

Dean got up out of his seat from the diner and then walked to Stars Hollow High. When he got there, he went directly to the basketball courts. He was confused for a moment. _The Accountant? _What the _hell_?

The accountant dude made a few shots, and then he noticed Dean standing there. "Uh," he said, "can I help you with something?"

Dean blinked and then said, "What the _hell _are you doing here, Dugrey?"

The guy gave him an odd look, and then he sighed, and muttered, "Not again," and then added, in a regular tone,"that Tristin guy wasn't liked very much, was he?"

"What are you talking about?" Dean said. "_You're _Tristin."

The kid sighed. "No, I'm not," he said, "for some reason people keep on confusing me with him though. They keep on saying I bear an uncanny resemblance to him."

Then Dean remembered that Jess had said the kids name. "Oh,"he said, "sorry about that. You must be Lucas Scott then."

"Yeah," he said, "I am. What's it to you?"

"Look," said Dean, "someone told me that you've got an interest in Rory Gilmore."

"Uh, friendship wise," said Lucas.

Dean snorted. "Sure," he said, "that's what they _all _say. Listen, dude, just stay away from her, alright?"

"Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?"

"Rory's boyfriend," said Dean.

"Look dude, I just------"

Lucas was cut off when he heard a girls voice from behind. "Hey Luke, I was just wondering if you had any books I could borrow? I've read all of mine and-"

Lucas gave Rory a look and Rory stopped mid-sentence and looked around, taking notice of Dean. "Did I just walk in on something?" she asked.

"No," said Dean, "of course not. I was just getting to know the new kid here, making nice."

"Oh yeah," said Lucas, "we were just about to make an oath to be blood brothers." The sarcasm in his voice was obvious.

"Yeah," said Dean, "now how much blood would that take-----all of it?"

"Okay," said Rory, sensing that something was going on, "Dean, we need to talk, now."

"Yeah, lets," said Dean.

Rory looked at Lucas, and then grabbed Dean by the arm and took him a few feet away from him so that he couldn't hear what they were saying. "Dean, what the hell was that about?" Rory demanded.

"It was nothing," Dean lied.

"Don't give me that," said Rory.

"I was just getting to know your _friend _who you _conveniently _forgot to tell me about," said Dean.

"This is precisely why I didn't tell you," said Rory, "every time I make a friend, you get possessive."

"I'm your boyfriend, I have a right," said Dean.

"No, you don't," said Rory, "I'm not your property, I'm your girlfriend, so start treating me like one. Don't interfere with my outside life."

Dean sighed. "I'm sorry, Rory," he said, "its just that things are really good between us, and I don't want anyone to screw that up."

Rory gave him a half smile. "Don't worry," she said, "it won't get screwed up. But in order for it not to get screwed up, I need you to trust me and my friends. I need you to let me have a life that doesn't always revolve around you."

Dean said, "I'm sorry about that, Ror. I'll try and not be so possessive."

"Thank you," said Rory, "now, I'm going to hang out with Luke. I'll call you later, okay?"

He sighed again. "I'm holding you to it," he said.

"Okay," she said, "talk to you later. Bye."

"Alright," he said with reluctance, "bye."

With that Dean turned and left, leaving Rory with Lucas. She sighed, and turned to look to her friend. "God, I'm sorry about that," she said, "he's just like that sometimes."

Lucas chuckled. "It's okay," he said, "he's your boyfriend, I get that."

"Well," she said smiling, "you're just making friends left and right, aren't you?"

"That's me," said Lucas with sarcasm, "Mr. Popularity."

"Now," he said after a few seconds, "What as that you were saying about books earlier?"

Rory smirked, and eagerly started talking about her favorite subject. "Well, I was wondering if you had any books that I could read? I mean, I've read all mine a thousand times and..."

The two teenagers eventually found themselves sitting on the blacktop of the basketball court, discussing their favorite literature.

"Shit, shit, shit," Lorelai Gilmore cursed, glaring at her toliet. The thing had decided to be evil and over flow on her today of all days. She went down stairs, trailing disgusting toliet water where she went, and then grabbed the telephone and dialed Luke Danes.

It was very confusing, having two Luke's around now. Luckily, whenever Rory was talking about her the teenage Luke, she generally called him by his full name, Lucas. So that made things a little easier, but at the same time, it was still confusing.

The phone rang three times. This was normal. Luke, not being a people person, normally let the phone ring and let the answering machine get it. He would only answer it until she annoyed the hell out of him, by singing strange songs, or saying weird things, or something like that.

She was Lorelai Gilmore, after all, and she was annoyingly insistent.

"Luke," she said into the phone, "Luke pick up. I know you're there. You're always there. There is no way that you are not there. There has never been a time when you aren't there."

"Luke, seriously, I'm going to start singing Britney Spears's list of greatest hits songs, and we all know how much you hate Britney Spears," said Lorelai, and then she started singing, "Oops I did it again, I played with your heart, got lost in the game------Ooooh, fooey. Fine, don't answer the phone. I'm hanging up now. Ya happy? I gave up. Meh. I'm finding a new diner and cheating on your diner with it! Bye!"

Lorelai huffed and hung up the phone. Damn Luke. He was _always_ there. Why wasn't he there? Never once had there been a point where Luke was not there. Sighing, Lorelai looked out the window across the street where the Scott boy's house was. There was movement in there, and she could see that the television was on in the living room. Someone was home.

Please, please, please, Lorelai thought, let Keith or Lucas be home. Please, please please. I can not have a screwed up toliet all day. I'd die without my toliet. I do not want to be living in amish country!

Lorelai exited the house and quickly crossed the street over to where the neighbors were. She knocked on the door. "Keith? Lucas? Anyone home?" she called. "Desperate single woman in need of a manly hand. I will perform sexual favors in return. I was _kidding _about the sexual favors as that would be absolutely wrong if you're the only one home Lucas as you're only sixteen and-"

The door opened and there stood Keith, a smudge of oil on his cheek, wearing a nice suit. "Why were you outside rambling about sexual favors and Lucas?"

Lorelai blushed. "Sorry about that," she said, "you see, my toliet over flowed, and I'm kind of desperate to have someone fix it, and I saw that someone was home, and seeing as how I didn't know if it was one or both of you guys, I called to see who was there, and then I made a joke about giving sexual favors if either one of you could help me and then realized there was a sixteen year-old boy in the house and that most likely wasn't a good thing to say because he could pull a Dustin Hoffman and that would be completely wrong so I added that the sexual favors thing was a joke so his manhood wouldn't go into a frenzy and cause damage."

Keith looked at her strangely. "I heard toliet overflowing, Dustin Hoffman, and then you lost me," he said.

"Right, sorry," she said, "I was rambling, because I tend to do that. You know, I start off on one topic and then move onto another and it makes no sense what so ever. It's kind of a thing that I do. I don't know why. I'm the only one in my family that rambles, besides Rory. My Mother never rambles. But then again she is Emily Gilmore and she is the queen of perfection and would never do anything as unperfect as ramble and my Father, you know, he's just the king of composure and-----"

Lorelai stopped short, noticing that Keith was giving her a strange look. "You're rambling again," he said.

"Oh god," said Lorelai, "Okay, let me just get to the point. Um, my toliet overflowed and as I have no skill in that department what so ever, can you please, please, please, come over and fix it?"

Keith smiled. "Sure thing," he said, "just let me change out of my work clothes and then I'll go and get my tools and I'll be over there in a minute."

"Right," she said, "Okay, thanks."

Later, Keith lay on the floor of the Gilmore Girls bathroom, fixing the toliet. "God," he said, "you should have had this fixed ages ago."

"Yeah well," she said, "normally, I just wait until my birthday for stuff like this."

"Your birthday?" Keith echoed, confused.

"My birthday," said Lorelai, "its a tradition. Every year on my birthday, Luke comes over to the house and fixes stuff. He's been doing it sense, well sense...look at how old Rory is and you can figure it out."

"Wow," said Keith, "well you really shouldn't wait that long to get things fixed. It could have been a whole lot worse by the time your birthday rolled around."

"I will take heed of your warning," said Lorelai, "thanks for fixing it."

"Your welcome," said Keith.

"Hey," said Lorelai, "you want to go get a drink or something?"

"Sure," said Keith, "I'd love to get a drink...or something."

**A/N: So after forever, here is chapter six. I hope I haven't lost all of my reviewers by putting this story off. However, I finished Something in the way, so now it should be a whole lot easier to work on Scott Boys and Gilmore Girls. For those of you who don't know, I received an acceptance letter from a publishing company who is going to publish the first book in a series of books I'm writing. The series is called Sandy Shores. 88 reviews! And only six chapters! That's a lot. Thanks so much.**

**Thank you to: **

**quirkylabrat: lol. I'm the same way. I love those shows, so that's why I wanted to write this fic. It took me along time to get this chapter up though because of my other fic that I was working on, but that's finished now. **

**Lori2279: Its going to be a Keith and Lorelai fic, just because the pairings original. Not to mention that there are too many Luke and Lorelai fics out there already. **

**GoddessGaia07: lol. I'm glad your hooked. **

**Fallenheart: lol. You're welcome. I liked your story a lot. Looking forward to your next e-mail. **

**Pearls24: Nah, not mad. She just didn't want to talk about it. **

**Solodancer: lol. Thanks. Nah, Rory doesn't hate Jess. She was just pissed that he was accusing her of something he knew nothing about. **

**queenmishca **

**MsJML: There will be lots more to come. **

**mellie5: Thanks and yeah, I'm still writing this. I just needed inspiration for the next chapter and I got it. ;) **

**Karahbellah **

**mar0506: lol. Don't worry, he won't keep on being a nugget. Eventually, him and Lucas and Rory will become friends. There will even be a trip to Tree Hill with the three of them. **

**princetongirl: There will be TONES of it, I promise. lol. **

**Sum41rocks: lol. I noticed it as I was writing the chapter. **

**Roween: Aw, thanks. :) **

**Callista Woolfwood **

**Piper-h-99: Your words have been heard and answered. ;) **

**TiCkLeDPinK22: Its alright and thanks for reviewing. Yeah, Jess and Brooke do kind of have that attitude. I'm actually considering making Jess be really good friends with Peyton, but not romantically. Jess and Brooke will still get together. **

**Thanks you guys. I really want to thank all of you (all 24 of you) who put this on your favorite stories list. I don't know who the newest ones are who have added it, otherwise I'd list them here, but thank you so very much. Its really appreciated. For anyone who is a fan of Harry Potter AND Gilmore Girls you should read Hogwarts Dance Marathon. Its a Harry Potter version of the Gilmore Girls episode 'They shoot Gilmores, don't they?' The one with the dance marathon. Only, Hermione Granger stars as Lorelai, Ginny Weasly as Rory, Dean Thomas as Dean, Draco Malfoy as Jess, Harry Potter as-----and here's a big surpise-----Luke and Mcgonagall as Taylor, Professor Flitwick as Miss Patty Justin Flinch Fletchley as Kirk Professor Sinistra as Mrs. Kim Lavender Brown as Louise Parvatie Patil as Madeline Vicktor Krum as Jamie Luna Lovegood as Paris...the list goes on and on. Read it. It is incredibly entertaining. I mean what more could you want? The best book series in the universe and the best show in the universe combined! It rocked my socks. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	7. Of stories and family

**Disclaimer: I don't own either Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill. **

Chapter seven 

Of family and Stories 

Knock, knock, knock. Lucas Scott rolled over in his bed and groaned. Who the hell would be knocking at his door this early in the morning? They had only been in Stars Hollow a week after all. It wouldn't be Rory. 

Rory just walked in through, and god knows it wouldn't be Lorelai. Lorelai would walk right in even if he was nude and not care. So who was it? Sighing, he got up out of bed, and reluctantly pulled some clothes on. 

They were on the floor, but they smelled clean, so who cared? He wasn't dressing to impress. It wasn't as if anyone important was going to be at the door. Grumbling, Lucas made his way downstairs and opened the door. 

"Hello-" Lucas stopped short when he was surprised to see his half brother, Nathan Scott, standing there on the porch. 

Nathan and Lucas were both nearly the same height as the other. He had blackish-brown hair and broad shoulders. During the last school year, Nathan and Lucas had been anything but close in the beginning. They had both resented and hated each other, but in the end, they ended up being up friends. 

Nathan couldn't help but chuckle at his brothers expression. "Dude," he said, "close your mouth, bro. You're going to end up catching a fly with it." 

Lucas closed his mouth instantly. "What are you----" He started to say but was cut off by Nathan. 

"Haley missed you," he said automatically, "that and I had no one to be a pain in the ass to." 

Lucas rolled his eyes at his younger brother. "Funny," he said with sarcasm, "very, very, funny." 

Just then, Lucas was nearly knocked down by an auburn haired girl with a really big smile on her face who ran up the porch steps and jumped, landing in a position where Lucas had his arms wrapped around her. "Lucas!" the girl squealed. "I missed you so much." 

Lucas laughed at his friends antics. "I missed you too Hales," he returned. 

"Sure you did," said Haley, with mock hurt, "you instant message Peyton and I sit by the computer for hours on end _waiting _for an instant message from you, but did you, nope. You never even got your butt online. And I even turned my cell phone on _during class _so that I could wait for a call for you." 

Lucas looked at her disbelievingly. "You did not," he said. 

Nathan nodded in confirmation. "She did bro," he said, "we even had a fifteen minute debate about whether or not she should leave her phone on during class and about how she should just call you instead of just driving herself crazy waiting for a phone call from you." 

"Well, he did leave Tree Hill to get away from his past," said Haley, "I wasn't sure how soon he wanted his past dumped on him." 

Lucas chuckled. "Haley," he said, "there could never be anything bad about getting you dumped on me." 

Haley smiled, Nathan frowned. "Hey, if you want to make moves, get your own wife," Nathan joked and Haley smiled even more being referred to as wife. 

Lucas wrinkled his nose and said, "Okay, that sounds a little weird." 

Haley chuckled. "Don't feel bad," she said, "we're still getting used to it." 

"So, where are you guys staying?" Lucas said. 

"What?" Nathan said in mock hurt. "You're not going to let your family stay with you?" 

Lucas sighed. "Well, don't you think that'd be weird considering the situation-----" Nathan interrupted him, "No worries. I was only joking. I know it would be weird. Me and Haley are staying at this place called The Independence inn." 

"Haley and I," Haley corrected and Nathan pretended that he didn't hear what she said. 

Lucas shook his head. "You're going to get that a lot with her," he said, "even if you read the classics and have good grammar like myself, she still will find something wrong with it." 

Nathan smiled. "Its one of her quirks that I love," he said. 

Haley grinned at that comment. 

"So," Lucas said, "you're staying at The Independence Inn?" 

"Yep," said Haley, "it's great. Although there was this one french guy at the front desk who nearly fainted when we said that we were married and then started muttering something about craziness and french curse words. At least I think they were french curse words, or they might have just been good, plain, old American curse words but either way they were really funky." 

Lucas chuckled. "Sorry about that," he said, "that's Michel. Rory told me that he's got a bad temper. I haven't met him myself personally though, because I have yet to go to the Inn, but still, I know enough about to know that he's got a really bad temper. You most likely did something unintentionally to annoy him. He's got a low tolerance for people." 

"Evidently," said Nathan, then taking notice of Lucas's lack of hair, "what happened to your hair?" 

"I chucked it," said Lucas, "I get a new start, why not get a new look?" 

"Okay, I thought you were supposed to be a guy, not a girl," said Haley, "Lucas, is there something you forgot to tell me?" 

Lucas gave her a look and she simply grinned. Nathan, remembering that Lucas had mentioned someone named Rory, said, "Whose Rory?" 

It was Haley's turn to give Lucas a look. "Luke," she said, "I thought you came to Stars Hollow to change your ways, not to resort back to them." 

Lucas merely rolled his eyes. "Come on in you two," he said, "and I'll tell you." 

"Oh, long story," said Nathan, "this should be interesting." 

"You're lucky the saying blood is thicker then water exists," Lucas joked, and Nathan laughed as Haley walked back over to him and he wrapped his arms around her and the three teenagers went inside the house, and Lucas closed the door behind them. 

Haley and Nathan were coincidentally on the love seat, while Lucas sat on the couch. "So," Haley began pumping him for information, "who is Rory, exactly?" 

"She's a friend," Lucas said, "her and Lorelai, her Mom, live right across the street. Keith and I met them our first night here. I apparently bare an uncanny resemblance to someone Rory used to go to school with, and the guy was apparently a real jerk, like a blonde you Nathan, pre-Haley." 

"Hey," said Nathan, "nice Luke, make fun of your brother. I redeemed myself, you know." 

Lucas laughed. "I'm just using an example," he said, "I'm not trying to be mean or anything. But anyway, Rory apparently didn't like my evil twin, and when she thought that it was him, she was at first kind of pissed off, but then I told her I was in fact, someone else, she became nice. She goes to Chilton, that school that I'm going to and the place where Keith is teaching. We come from the same background. Her Mom got pregnant as a teenager too. Plus, she's got good taste in literature." 

"Wow," said Haley, "a girl version of you, basically. That's weird. She doesn't, you know, brood and have an evil father does she?" 

"I resent the brooding comment," said Lucas, "I don't brood, I'm just moody." 

"Is there a difference?" Nathan asked. 

Lucas just shook his head. "No," he said, "Rory does not brood, and I don't know about her Dad, but she never says anything bad about him, so I don't think that her Dad situation is anything like mine." 

Nathan smirked. "I smell love, its in the air," he said. 

Lucas rolled his eyes. "C'mon," he said, "you know I'm not looking for a relationship right now, and besides that, Rory and I are just friends." 

"That's what you said about Brooke and Peyton in the beginning," said Haley, "and look how that turned out." 

"Speaking of," said Lucas, "how are they?" 

"Pretty good," said Haley, "Brooke's about ready to murder the new guy at our school though." 

"New guy?" echoed Lucas. 

"Felix," Nathan explained, "he's really vain, arrogant, and too sure of himself and wants to get into all the girls pants." 

"Wait a minute, doesn't that sound like a certain female we know?" Lucas joked. 

Haley chuckled. "Yes, its Brooke in guy pants," said Haley, "everyone thinks that she likes him, and she keeps on denying it, but you know, denial is not just a river in Egypt." 

Lucas laughed. "Same old Tree Hill," he said, "always a new romantic entanglement in the midst." 

"Stars Hollow seems about the same," Nathan said with a twinge of sarcasm. 

Lucas sighed. "Nothing romantic is going to happen between Rory and I," said Lucas. 

"See," Haley said to Nathan, "he uses proper grammar, why can't you?" ' 

"I'm going to ignore that." 

Lucas couldn't help but smirk at his brother and sister in law. Lucas frowned, and Haley, noting the look on his face, asked, "What's wrong Luke?" 

"Nothing," said Lucas, "it's just weird because I was thinking about you guys, and I referred to you as my sister and law." 

"Oh god," said Haley, "that is weird. You mean I'm related to you?" 

Lucas rolled his eyes. 

"I'm kidding BIL," she said. 

Lucas quirked a brow and both Nathan and Lucas said in one voice, "BIL?" 

"Brother in law," she stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

Lucas shook his head. "That's a little weird," he said. Haley thought about it for a moment. "I know," she said, "it really is." 

Nathan just laughed. "So Luke," he said, "when do we get to meet this Rory chick?" 

"Really-----" Lucas was cut off by the door opening and Rory walking in just at that moment. 

"Hey Luke, do you know what Babett was rambling about? She said something about a guy with a nice koosh----might have been tush, I'm not sure, she talks fast----and a girl who were acting really lovely dovey at the Diner and-----" Rory paused upon noticing Haley and Nathan. 

"Um, hi," she said, "I have absolutely no idea who you are." 

"Ror," said Lucas, "you were just talking about them." 

Rory looked at him confused and then, realizing what he meant, she blushed a little. "Hi," she said to Haley and Nathan, "sorry about that. News travels fast in this town." 

"Apparently," said Nathan, "hi, I'm Nathan, Luke's brother." 

"I'm--" 

"Rory," said Haley, "we know. Luke told us. I'm Haley, Luke's best friend and sister in law." 

Rory looked at her quizzically. "Sister in law?" she echoed. 

Lucas sighed. "It's a long story," he said simply. 

"I've got time for a long story," said Rory. 

"Well, go ahead and take a seat then," said Lucas and she sat down on the couch next to them and Lucas put her arm around her and the three teenagers started explaining their long, assorted history with one another to Rory. 

Haley and Nathan both noticed Lucas and Rory's closeness and even once or twice thought that the two might have been flirting with one another. They exchanged looks with each other as Rory and Lucas chatted; the looks Nathan and Haley exchanged went unnoticed by the other two. 

**A/N: Hey guys. So there's chapter seven. I thought it was about time I bring in some of the Tree Hill gang to Stars Hollow. Next chapter will include-Dean and Rory fighting, the dance marathon, Lucas and Dean "almost" fighting, and basketball face off between Dean and Lucas. Should be interesting. I know nothing about basketball, so bare with me. Also more Naley. Thank you to whoever put this story on the C2 list. **

**Thanks to: **

**Callista Wolfwood **

**Fallen Heart: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I for the life of me could not remember how to spell his last name! Thank you for correcting me on that. **

**queenmischa: thanks. Dean getting jealous is fun to write, and there will be more of that in chapter nine too. **

**beautifulbutterfly: Yeah, I think Keith and Lorelai would be good together. Thank you. I'm really glad about my book getting published as well. I will be writing plenty more. :) **

**jmarit17: Its kind of Alternate universe, I guess. Yeah, I know, I hate Dean. There will definitely be a fight between Lucas and Dean. I'm thinking of a nickname Lucas could have for Rory-----the blonde guys it seems always give her a nickname. Jess and Brooke might have a slight thing going on, but I am edging more towards Jess and Peyton. I noticed another fic that had Brooke and Jess, which although cute, I started to think might not be a good couple. She's too bubbly for him, lol. Thanks Kellie. **

**LoVe23: ;) I enjoy throwing wrenches. Its fun and they hit people in the head and...what? Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy, I swear. **

**Sum41rocks: Oh, Deans getting his own dose Doose's market brand medicine soon. **

**TiCkLeDpInK22: Yeah. Jess and Peyton, should be interesting. **

**Poetic Angelica: ** **lol. Agreed. Dean sucks. I seriously cringe when I put him in a fic because I hate him so much. Thank you. I'm very happy about my book. **

**solodancer: Agreed, again. Dean sucks. Jess wasn't really helping him, he was just causing trouble and being Jess. I have no idea when my book is coming out because I just got the contract from the publishing company, but it will be sometime within six months. **

**Thank you to the following for adding the story to your favorites list: **

**beautifulbutterfly **

**blackroseangel69**

**Dannigurl **

**daydreeamer94**

**drkkitsune **

**estick **

**Fallen Heart **

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**hunibuni479 **

**jmarit17 **

**joy1 **

**libertypunk**

**piper-h99**

**quirkylabrat **

**Roween **

**Skellington-theory **

**smileylove567**

**solodancer **

**soloveable **

**Sum41rocks **

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**sweet19903 **

**trorychick06**


	8. The Floppy Haired Jerk

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own either Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill. I just meddle in their fictional lives. **

Chapter eight

The Floppy Haired Jerk

It was morning in Stars Hollow and Lucas and Rory had taken a drive to The Independence Inn to pick up Nathan and Haley. The two were taking the Tree Hill teenagers to Chilton for the day and were having them pose as students whose parents were interested in having them transfer there and they were just checking the school out for the day. Rory had been the one to come up with the excuse for them to go to classes with Rory and Lucas.

"C'mon Luke, we got to go in," said Rory.

"Rory, do I have to?" whined Lucas. "I mean, do you know how much Nathan is going to mock me about this uniform? He won't stop. It will go on for ages."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Is the big, bad, basketball player afraid of what his little brother is going to say about his school uniform?" Rory said in a sarcastic baby voice.

Lucas said, "Yes, I am. He may look innocent but that's only when Haley's there to keep him in line."

"Oh come on," said Rory, "how bad can it be? Look, I've got _The complete works of Jane Austen _in my bag and if he says anything, I'll just whack him over the head with it."

The two were standing in the lobby of the inn and when Lorelai, who had just entered, only caught the ending of her daughters sentence, she felt the need to poke fun as she always did. "Whack Luke over the head with something? C'mon sweets, your in those privet school uniforms, if you want to play a sex game that involves whacking him, at least whack him on the ass where it counts."

Rory blushed scarlet and Lucas just chuckled, causing Rory to hit him in the arm playfully. "Ow!" Lucas exclaimed. "Damn Rory, what are you doing? Trying to kill me? You hit _hard._"

"Oh no Luke, she's not trying to kill you," said Lorelai, "that's her way of showing affection. You know, when she really love someone, she just gives them a good old punch in the arm. You know, its like the hillbillies do. Only this time its Rory who has her teeth intact and is nothing at _all _like a hillbilly."

Nathan had just now entered and upon hearing hillbilly asked, "What on earth are you guys talking about?"

"It's a long story," said Lucas, and then, "Nathan, this is Lorelai Gilmore, Rory's Mom and Lorelai, this is Nathan Scott, my half-brother."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Damn, they've got good genes in the Scott family, don't they?" she said causing Rory to roll her eyes.

"Mom," she said, "he's seventeen."

"Hey, the woman in _The Graduate _pulled it off," said Lorelai.

"He's married," Rory added.

"Gah," said Lorelai, "married?"

"Yep," said Nathan, "hi, Miss Gilmore. It's nice to meet you."

"Lorelai," she said, "never Miss Gilmore. And its nice to meet you too. Hey, if you need anything, just ask. And uh, you might want to avoid Michel. He has a low people tollerance."

"So we've discovered," said Nathan.

Lorelai then turned to her daughter. "Okay, so are we meeting at Luke's today after school or do you have stuff for the paper or what?" she said.

"Actually, I'm going to hang out with Dean," said Rory, "he's been feeling neglected."

"What he can't play with that floppy hair of his to keep him entertained?" Lorelai questioned and Rory gave her Mother a pointed look and Lorelai said meekly, "Sorry."

"Ror, I thought you were going to come with me today to show Haley and Nathan around the town," said Lucas.

"Oh god---you're right," she said, "I'm sorry. Oh well. I guess I'll just ditch Dean then. I mean, he gets me all the time and they just met me."

"Morning all," Haley greeted them and gave Nathan a kiss on the cheek, making him smile and wrap his arms around her. Haley noticed Lucas's uniform and raised an eyebrow. "What's up with the privet school uniforms, BIL?"

"Not a word, Hales," said Lucas, "not a word."

Haley looked to Rory for an answer. Rory simply snickered. "He's touchy about the uniform thing," she explained, "he thinks that they make him look like an idiot."

"Huh, interesting," said Haley, "well if its any consolation, the blue brings out your eyes."

Lucas just shook his head. "C'mon people," he said, "Rory and I have got to get to school and we have the evil teacher first period, so lets go." Lucas put his arm around Rory and the two walked out of the inn together, Haley and Nathan walking behind them.

When they were on the Chilton campus, Haley and Nathan stared in amazement. "Dude," said Nathan, "where's the torture chamber? Or Filch and Mrs. Norris?"

Rory laughed. "Oh, the torture chambers just to the right," she said, "you can find it in the gym."

Nathan exchanged looks with Lucas. Lucas just shook his head. "Rory," he said, "how many times do I have to tell you, gym is not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Rory echoed. "Not that bad? Of course you're right Luke. Gym isn't that bad. It's _horrible." _

Lucas looked at Haley and Nathan and explained, "Rory has a love/hate relationship with gym class," Rory corrected him here by saying, "What he means to say is that its more so a _hate _relationship with gym class. It is the only class that I ever got an F in. Luckily Harvard doesn't care about physical fitness otherwise I would have no chance in getting in."

"Really, gym consists of stretches, running, and your choice of basketball, track, soccer, or football," said Lucas, "it's not that hard."

"When you are a Gilmore, it's hard," said Rory, "the only physical things that Gilmores are good at is golf and sex and golf is strictly for striking business deals and sex is strictly for when your eighteen and up...unless your my Mom, who bent the rules."

"Huh," said Lucas, and he added jokingly, "nice to know about the sex thing. It'll be good to know for later on."

Rory gave Lucas a pointed look. "Excuse me mister, I have a boyfriend," she said, "and need I mention that we just started being friends. Don't you think its a bit too early to bring up the issue of us possibly having sex?"

"S there is a possibility of us having sex?" This earned Lucas a punch in the arm. "Rory, damn it! I told you that _hurts_."

"That's the point of my doing it," said Rory.

Nathan and Haley laughed at the antics of the two. Rory shook her head. "Okay, I'm going to take Haley to the headmasters office to make sure its okay that you two can stay here for the day so you two boys are left on your own."

"I want you to both be in one piece, Nate and Luke, when we get back," Haley said.

"Hey!" the two said in one voice and the girls just rolled their eyes at each other and then they went to the headmasters office and left Nathan and Lucas to themselves.

When the two were gone, the two brothers sat in silence for a moment. Then Nathan spoke up and said, "She's a great girl Luke. You've got a good friend there."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "that I do. It's weird because I've only known her a week and we've gotten close. She lets people in. With her Mom and herself, Keith and I are good friends with the both of them. Keith wishes Rory were in his shop class just for the sake of conversation."

Nathan laughed and then said, "How is Keith, anyway?"

"Good as far as I can tell," said Lucas, "he likes his class. You'll see him today, if you want to come with me to shop class."

"Sure," said Nathan, "that'd be good."

There was a moment of silence and then Lucas broke it. "So," said Lucas, "what's your real reason for coming here, Nate? Don't try telling me that it was just because you and Haley missed me either."

"Well there's that," said Nathan, "and..." he trailed off and looked hesitant, "Dad...Dan...had a heart attack."

Lucas was quiet for a moment. He didn't quite know what to say. He was no big fan of his father and yet he had no desire to see the man get hurt or die either. "Wow," was all Lucas said, and then, "how come you didn't tell me this sooner?"

"I tried calling you," said Nathan, "but you know, with you moving to a new town and starting a new school and everything I was pretty sure that it wasn't something that you would want to hear you're first week there. So I decided to just let you get adjusted and all that."

"Is he," Lucas searched for the proper way to phrase the sentence, "is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," said Nathan, "even a heart attack couldn't kill the bastard. He's a little depressed and everything but who cares? He puts people through enough as it is. If he's a little depressed, the world won't end. You know, I went to go tell him that Haley and I got married."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "how'd that go?"

"It was...interesting, to say the least," said Nathan, and then after a moments pause, he added, "you know, he asked for you to call him."

"Me?" Lucas said. "What the hell does he want with me?"

"You know, I don't know Luke," he said, "but after all he's done, I wouldn't let him in. Take my advice, and don't get pulled down by him. Getting emancipated was the best thing that I ever did and I wouldn't go back on that for the world."

"Don't worry, Nate," said Lucas, "I have no desire to get in with the devil." Although he said it, he somehow doubted the words. Dan had had a heart attack. What if...what if Dan had died and he had never gotten a chance to know his father?

Nathan noted the strange expression on Lucas's face. "Hey bro," he said, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, "yeah, I'm fine."

Later, Nathan, Lucas, Haley and Rory all sat at a table in the cafeteria. "Interesting place you got here, Chilton," commented Nathan.

"Yeah," said Haley, "what was up with that weird thing with you and Mr. Medina anyway?"

"C'mon Ror, spill," urged Nathan, "there was some weird vibes coming from the two of you when we were in that class. What were you a 'teachers pet' last year, if you know what I mean?"

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed, giving her husband a look.

"What?" Nathan said. "I'm just asking."

This caused both Rory and Haley to roll their eyes. "So let me get this straight," said Rory, "you had to deal with the _both _of them back in Tree Hill?"

"Yes," said Haley, "do you know how hard it was keeping rival brothers from killing one another? Let me tell you, it was _hard;_ I am forever in your debt for taking my BIL over here off my hands."

"Hey," objected Lucas, "I was not that much of a handful."

"Please, you two over here were worse then Dawson Leery and Pacey Witter fighting over Joey Potter," said Haley.

"I resent that," said Nathan, "I'm much hotter then the guy who played Pacey _and _I can punch better. But can we get back to the topic at hand about how weird our little Rory over here and Mr. Medina were acting?"

"Yeah," said Lucas, "I've known her for a week and she still won't tell me her assorted history with a certain Chilton teacher."

"It's nothing," said Rory.

"It sounds like something," said Haley.

"Well, okay, maybe there is something," said Rory and noting Nathan's suggestive look added, "not that something, Nate."

"Aw," said Nathan, "ruin my fun why don't you? Anyway, go ahead and tell us the story."

"Well," said Rory, "Mr. Medina dated my Mom sophomore year."

"No way!" gasped Haley.

"Yes way," said Rory, "it happened a while ago, and they were engaged for a time and nearly got married, and I should be over it, but its still weird having to run into him at school."

"Dude," said Nathan, "teachers getting down and dirty with the PTSA, sounds a lot like something that would happen in Tree Hill."

"Well," said Lucas, "it kind of did happen in Tree Hill with you in Haley, only she was a student, and your tutor."

"Oooh," said Rory, "bad boy Nathan Scott. And Haley James Scott, I'm surprised you'd do something like that----fraternizing with the tutored. Gives a new meaning to Tutor Girl."

"Ah," said Haley, "not that nickname."

Rory looked at her strangely. "Nickname?"

"Yep," said Haley, "my own personal nickname, given to me courtesy of Brooke Davies last year when I started helping Nathan."

"Behind my back, might I add," said Lucas.

"Only because I knew you wouldn't like it," said Haley, "and I was attempting to get him to lay off you."

"Okay," said Rory, "your guys's story just keeps on getting more and more wrenches in it. What next, did a teenage father live in your town too?"

Haley, Nathan, and Lucas all exchanged glances and Rory, noting the look, shook her head in disbelief. "Okay," she said, "don't tell me. Your hometown story is complicated enough as it is."

The Tree Hill teens just laughed.

From another table in the cafeteria, Paris, Madeline, and Louise all watched the four with interest. Well, at least Madeline and Louise were. Paris, on the other hand, being that she was Paris, couldn't care less. So, getting thoroughly annoyed with her friends staring problems, she snapped, "Will you to stop that? The gawking thing is getting annoying."

"Hey, its a free country," said Louise, "if we want to gawk, we will gawk."

"Who do you think the guy is?" Madeline asked.

"Lucas's brother," answered Louise.

"How do you know this?" Madeline demanded.

"I have my ways," she said simply.

"Then the girl must be his sister," said Madeline.

"And they all must be hillbillies in Tree Hill," Paris said with her usual sarcasm.

"What makes you say that, Paris?" Louise asked.

"Please," said Paris, "they're far too lovey-dovey in order to be brother and sister. And did you notice the way they were looking at each other? It's like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in _Mr. and Mrs. Smith, _the chemistry between them is so hot."

This time, instead of gawking at the four teens they had been looking at, Louise and Madeline gawked at Paris. Paris, not knowing why they were gawking, said, "What?"

"Did she just use a pop culture reference?" asked Madeline to Louise.

"I think she did," said Louise, "did she use a pop culture reference in talking about a couple?"

"I think she did," said Madeline.

"Will you please tell me what is so amazing about that?" Paris demanded.

"Our little Paris is growing up!" Louise and Madeline said together. Paris just rolled her eyes and muttered something about "idiots". Then Louise and Madeline went back to ignoring Paris and went back to gawking at Rory's gang of friends.

"So," said Madeline, "they share the same last name and they're not brother and sister. That only leaves one option."

"They're married," said Louise.

"Really?" said Madeline. "I was going to go with the cousin theory."

Louise rolled her eyes. "Madeline," she said, "stop. Think. Process."

"Oooooh," said Madeline, "they're both wearing rings."

"Right," said Louise.

"So," said Madeline, "do you think she's pregnant?"

"Obviously," said Louise, "that's the only explanation as to why they'd get married."

"You think?" said Madeline. "It couldn't just be for love?"

Louise rolled her eyes. "Madeline," she said, "have you heard the story of the Scott family? It is only natural that little Nathan would follow in Daddy dearest's footsteps."

"Explain, please," said Madeline. Louise rolled her eyes again and leaned over and whispered the story to Madeline. "Oh," she said when Louise was done, "you want to go ask if that is the case?"

"Oh but of course," said Louise.

Louise and Madeline got up out of their seats and started to walk over to Rory's table, much to the surprise of Paris. "Where are you going?" Paris questioned.

"To do some research," said Madeline.

"Gossip research," added Louise, "never school research."

"Oh but of course," said Madeline.

Paris rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "I'm coming with you," she said.

"Why?" Louise asked. "You never gossip."

"You don't like gossip," said Madeline.

"I'm not going over there for the gossip," said Paris, "I am going over there for damage control."

"Damage?" said Madeline.

"Who, us?" said Louise. "Never."

"Ha," said Paris disbelievingly,"I don't buy it. Keep on walking missies."

The two did as ordered and went over to the table where Rory was at. The four teenagers had been laughing at something and then stopped when they noticed the three girls. "Oh, hey Paris, Madeline, Louise," greeted Rory.

"Hey," Paris said, deadpanned. "These two have something to ask the newcomers. You know how they are. They always want to get the gossip on new people. I just came so as to be damage control."

"Nice to know you care, Paris," Rory joked.

"That's me," said Paris, "I'm a regular Red Cross nurse."

"So," said Louise, looking at Nathan and Haley, "we noticed that you two have the same last name."

"But you were a little _too close_ to be brother and sister," said Madeline, "and then we noted the rings."

"So we were wondering----" began Louise, but Madeline cut to the chase.

"Are you pregnant?" Madeline blurted out to Haley.

Haley and Nathan just laughed. "No," she answered, "I'm not pregnant."

"So why'd you get married then?" questioned Louise.

"For love," said Nathan simply.

"Wow," said Madeline, and then turning to Lucas, "you're towns cracked buddy."

"Oh that I know," said Lucas, "that I know."

Later, the four teens were back in Stars Hollow, giving Nathan and Haley the grand tour. "There's Al's pancake world," Rory pointed out one particular eating place.

"Good pancakes?" Nathan asked.

Lucas and Rory exchanged looks, and then Lucas explained, "No. He doesn't do pancakes anymore. He only does international food."

"Huh," said Nathan, "so why the pancake world?"

"Oh," said Rory, "he'd already printed out napkins with the name so he just kept it because it was too expensive to get it changed."

"Ooookay," said Haley, "that's a little weird."

"Very," agreed Nathan.

"There's Miss Patty's," Rory pointed out the dance studio.

"What's that exactly?" Lucas questioned. "I still don't know what that is."

"Oh that's right," said Rory, "you haven't met her yet. Miss Patty's the dance teacher. She was actually on Broadway once. That is her dance studio."

"Huh," said Lucas, "interesting."

"And you might want to avoid her, Nathan and Luke," warned Rory.

"Why's that?" the two brothers asked.

"She's got a tendency to hit on guys," said Rory.

"And how old is she, exactly?" questioned Lucas.

"Dumbledore's age," said Rory.

"No one knows Dumbledore's age," pointed out Lucas.

"We settle for seventy-five, but she could be older," said Rory, "no one really knows."

"Huh," said Nathan.

The teens kept on walking, every once and a while pausing when Rory would go to show them something. Lucas would put his input in here and there but as he'd only been in the town a week, some of these things were new for him too. As they walked, Rory had an unsettled feeling in her stomach. She couldn't help but think that she had forgotten something.

She searched her mind and tried to remember what exactly it was that she had forgotten but for the life of her she could not remember. Finally, she went, "Hey Lucas, did we have a paper or something due tomorrow? I keep on thinking I forgot something."

"No," said Lucas, "not that I can think of. But you know me, Rory, I'm a guy. I don't have the world's best memory."

"Right," said Rory, "it most likely isn't anything big. I most likely just left something at school or something like that."

They kept on walking, a nagging feeling still in Rory's stomach. Then her cell phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Where the hell are you?" the voice of Dean demanded over the phone. Rory stopped dead in her tracks. Dean. She had forgotten about Dean. She was supposed to spend time with him. She had forgotten to tell him that she wasn't going to be able to make it.

Oh crud, Rory thought.

"Oh my god," said Rory into the phone, "Dean. I'm so sorry. I completely forgot."

"Evidently," he said, sounding pissed, "where are you? I'm at Luke's and I'm worried sick about you."

"I'm sorry," she said, "Lucas had friends come in from Tree Hill at last minute and------"

"Lucas," Dean echoed, saying his name as though it were a dirty curse word, "you bailed on spending time with me for him?"

"Dean," said Rory, "I was going to call you, but I forgot."

"Of course you forgot," said Dean, "when you're with Lucas, why on earth would you have time to think about your _boyfriend_?"

"Dean," said Rory, "it's not like that."

"Oh please," said Dean, "it always is. Don't try and deny it. Whenever you get a new guy friend, we always have problems. It was the same way when you were hanging out with Tristin for a while and then Jess. It won't be any different with him."

"Don't do this, Dean," said Rory, "we're doing good. Don't do this now."

"Doing good?" he shouted into the phone making it so that Rory had to pull it away from her ear a little. "Doing good? Don't kid yourself, Rory. You know what's going to come as long as you keep on hanging out with him. That's what always happens whenever you start hanging out with a guy."

"Well it wouldn't have to happen if you weren't so damn jealous," Rory shot back, putting the phone back to her ear now.

Nathan, Haley, and Lucas stood off into the back, listening to their friends conversation, wondering what the hell was going on. Rory at this time didn't notice. She was too busy being pissed at Dean to.

"I don't want to do this, but I know its the only thing that's going to make our relationship work," said Dean, "you've got to choose Rory. Do you want to give all this up for some guy you've only known a week? Or do you want to stay with your boyfriend who you've known longer?"

"Dean," said Rory, "you've got to be kidding me. You can't ask me to choose between you and my friend."

"You don't know him that well Rory," said Dean, "it shouldn't be that hard."

There was a pause and Rory said, "You're not who I thought you were."

"Neither are you," said Dean.

"So we're done?" Rory croaked.

"We're done," said Dean. Then there was nothing but the dial tone, signaling that Dean had hung up. Rory hung up her own cell phone and then turned to Lucas, Nathan, and Haley. She looked like she was about to cry and they could all tell that she was going to.

"Um," she started to say but she couldn't finish the sentence. There was no need to. The tour was over, and they all knew that. Lucas came forward and gave her a hug.

"Go on home, Ror," he said, "I'll come over later, alright?" Rory didn't say anything, she just nodded. Tears streaming down her face, Rory Gilmore ran through the streets of Stars Hollow, ignoring the curious stares that people were giving her.

When Rory reached her house, she pushed through the door, much to the surprise of Lorelai. Lorelai gave her daughter one look and then opened her arms and Rory rushed over to her, hugging her Mom with all her might. Lorelai didn't even have to ask. She knew instantly that the cause of her daughters pain was due to the floppy haired jerk.

While hugging Rory, Lorelai reached over to the phone with one hand, picked it up, and dialed the pizzeria in Stars Hollow. "Hey," she said to the owner, "it's Lorelai. Can I get three pizza's with everything..."

**a/n: Ding dong, the witch is dead! Ding dong the wicked witch, the wicked witch is dead! Finally, the break up, pt. 3! Goodbye Dean. I rejoiced as I wrote that chapter. Next Chapter: Lucas comforts Rory, Haley, Lorelai, and Rory have a girls night, and Lucas and Nathan are in a near fight with Dean which leads to Lucas challenging Dean to a good old basketball game. Things are going to get interesting, kiddies!109 reviews. You rock! **

**Thanks to: **

**Poetic Angelica: Thank you for the compliment.:) Rory and Lucas will get more close in the chapters to come, which will lead to more Lucas putting his arm around Rory, and things like that which will hopefully give more smiles to you. :) **

**solodancer: Lucas will be _Woopass _in the next two chapters, if you catch my drift. :) It's going to be incredibly entertaining. So will the dance marathon. No Rory and Lorelai won't be partners, Rory and Lucas will, and so will Keith and Lorelai. The tension will be HOT! And more Dean getting his ass kicked by Lucas. Hope you didn't miss too much of Smallville. I LOVE that show. Lex rocks my socks and so does Clark. And Chloe and Lois RULE.:) **

**katydid7186: Yeah, Rory and Luke really do fit. Dean is gone, as was your wish. I don't like him either. He's such a---insert curse words----. And as an added bonus, Lucas gets to kick Dean's ass at Basketball soon. :) **

**Druzilla: Glad you liked it. :) **

**queenmischa: There will be LOADS of Naley meddling. **

**Sum41rocks: I agree. The W.B. writers were EVIL this season on oth. The fight is coming soon, but I wanted the break up to happen in order for them to have a reason to fight. **

**soloveable: Agreed. There should be an oth/gg crossover on the w.b. :) **

**LoVe23:lol. I get what you meant by watching t.v. in your head. Thank you. That's a really big compliment and it makes me feel special to know that people say I can do that. Did you like the next "installment" as you put it? I hope so. :) **

**KarahBellah: Glad you do. :) **

**TiCkleDPinK22: Aw, thanks. The book won't be published under a pen name, it will be published under my real name. Tee hee. Thanks Kates. :)**

**jmarit17: Thanks. I thought Lucas should get an update on the Tree Hill gangs goings on. I will definitely have a little Nathan Vs. Dean in the next chapter. Thanks for the idea! I also want to mention that I started reading your fics and they're brilliant! I love your stories, especially the one with Tristin in Stars Hollow. Or, Tristan as most people spell it. Sorry. It's become a habit to spell it Tristin since I got the Gilmore Girls books. **

**Thank you guys all for reviewing. 109! Damn.And that was only within the first seven chapters. I wonder how many I'll get for Chapter eight. It should be interesting. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria**

**P.S: Thanks to the people who added me to their favorites list. I'm not sure whose new, but thank you to the six more people who added this story on their list. ) **


	9. Lonely Days

**Disclaimer: When you wish upon a star----nope, sorry, still don't own either Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill. **

**A/N: So people who don't watch One Tree Hill aren't confused, Lucas and Nathan both are sixteen. I made a mistake in the last chapter and a reviewer kindly pointed it out to me. Lucas is three months older then Nathan, but they are the same age, sixteen. **

Chapter nine

Lonely Days

Rory lay on her bed, her face burried in her pillow. Tears streaked her face. It was one o' clock in the morning. Lorelai had fallen asleep on the couch somewhere in between _Casablanca _and the second tape of _Gone with the wind_. They had spent the afternoon in between crying, eating, and watching movies. The house had been in a very depressed atmosphere, something that wasn't normal in the Gilmore house.

God she hated Dean. She could not believe that he would even think of asking her that. It just sucked. What was his problem? Why did he have to feel so threatened by the fact that she was friends with a guy? That was just ridiculous. Really.

Just then, Rory heard a knocking on the door. Who on earth would that be at this hour? She prayed that it would not be Dean. It would be such a Dean thing to do to show up in the middle of the night---or rather early morning----and make up some lame story about how he wanted her back and how he was just angry at the time and that he didn't really mean it when he broke up with her.

Well she wasn't going to go crawling back to him. This was it, the final straw. They wouldn't get back together. They were never going to get back together. She sighed and wiped the tears away from her face. Why had she even bothered crying? He wasn't even worth her tears. It was just a _waste_. He was just a waste.

Knock. There was the knocking again. Why couldn't the knocking just stop? Why couldn't he go away? She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to see him. He was the biggest jerk in the world.

Knock, knock. God, this wasn't what she wanted to do. She didn't want to face him now. Why couldn't Dean just get the picture and go away? It was one o' clock in the morning, for pete's sake. Who goes over to a persons house at one o' clock in the morning?

Sighing, she rolled over and debated getting up. Then, she decided that it was best that she got up and answered it before Deans insistent knocking woke the neighbors up or her Mom. Her Mom sleep deprived was not a pretty picture either and with Dean being the person at the door, the situation would get really messy. So despite the fact that she hated Dean at the moment, she decided to save him from a horrible death and answer the door so that Lorelai didn't and end up masacuring him.

She got up with reluctence, and walked to the door. She opened it and started to say, "Look Dean I don't care what you've got to say, I----"

"Rory, I'm insulted," said the voice of Lucas Scott, "I look nothing like The Floppy Haired Jerk."

Rory mustered a smile for her friend; she wiped the sleep from her eyes. Then she sighed and said, "Luke, what are you doing here? It's one o' clock in the morning. You should be asleep. We've got school tomorrow."

"No, we don't," said Lucas, "Lorelai already told me that she was keeping you home even if she had to lock you in your room."

"You talked to Mom?" Rory asked. "When?"

"When you were somewhere in between sob fest three," said Lucas, "or four. There abouts. She said that you were in no shape to be at school. Keith's letting me stay home too for the emergency friend support. Lane tried to get out of going by saying she felt that she was coming down with the flu, but Mrs. Kim wasn't buying it."

Rory looked at him quizzically. "You met Lane?" she said. "When?"

"Oh, she answered the phone when I called," said Lucas, "she came, but only for a few minutes. It wasn't long enough for you to see her."

Rory's smile grew a bit more. "I feel loved," she said, "really Luke, you don't have to be here. It's one o' clock in the morning you should be asleep."

"Ah, you're not getting rid of me Rory Gilmore," said Lucas, "I am staying incase another crying fest should come on."

"Well then come on buddy," said Rory, "get your butt inside. It's got to be cold out there."

"Finally," said Lucas and he came in, and noting the look Rory was giving him, he added, "What? It really was cold out there."

Rory normally would have laughed but as she wasn't really in a laughing mood she settled for just shaking her head. The two went inside to her room and they lay on the bed, Rory's head on Lucas's chest, resting it there as though he were her pillow.

They just sat in silence. She listened to his breathing, and found that it had a calming effect on her. They didn't even have to talk and yet somehow Rory felt better. Lucas moved his hand a little and accidently hit the radio on her nightstand, making it turn on.

"Sorry," he said and went to turn it off, but the song "Everything" by Lifehouse was on, and as it was a favorite of Rory's, she put her arm on his, stopping him. "No," she said, "it's okay. I like this song."

The song had just started and it was the slow part.

They sat there in silence a few moments more. Then finally, Lucas broke the silence, speaking over the song, "He's an idiot, you know."

"For which part?" Rory asked.

It was still the slow part of the song.

"For everything," said Lucas.

Rory lay there, just listening to Lucas's breathing, not quite knowing what to say. Then, finally, she spoke, "I hate him. I hate him for doing this."

"I know you do, Ror," said Lucas, "I know you do. And you've got every right to." Rory couldn't hold it in any longer. She started to cry and let it all out, burying her head into Lucas's chest.

The "Everything" song by Lifehouse got faster, and a little faster. It kept on going, and then as soon as started, it quickly ended.

The first rays of sunlight entered the room and Lorelai Gilmore found herself awakened by them. She was startled to find herself in the living room. What was she doing in the living room? Had she been drinking and not been able to make it to the bed? Or had she tripped and broken something and been knocked unconcious here?

What the heck was she doing in the living room?

Then she remembered. Yesterday---Rory, her daughter, her best friend, had come home, in tears, and rushed to her and given her a hug and then after a few minutes more of crying had blurted out that Dean had broken up with her. She had explained the situation and Lorelai herself had offered to get one of Emily's hitmen and have him go and kill Dean. But Rory had protested, much to her disapointment.

Personally Lorelai saw no reason why The Floppy Haired Jerk, as Kirk had referred to him after the first break up, shouldn't meet a nice, gruesome end, here and now. However, as Lorelai knew that she couldn't kill the kid, she decided that she would settle for making his life a living hell. That she would.

Getting up from the couch, Lorelai decided that she was going to go and see how Rory was doing. She walked into Rory's room and was meant with a surprise. There, on Rory's bed, lay Rory, with her head layed on Lucas Scott's chest. Admittedly, they were clothed, so nothing could have happened. But none the less, it was very strange, considering the circumcstances, being that Rory had just broken up with her now ex-boyfriend Dean even less then 24 hours ago.

Deciding to be evil, Lorelai turned up Rory's radio alarm clock, which for some reason was on, and was playing The Donna's, and turned it up REALLY, REALLY, LOUD, so as to give the two slumbering teenagers a wake up call.

Sure enough, both of them woke, groaning. "Ugh," Rory groaned, lifting her head from Lucas's chest, "Mom, turn it off."

"Please, Lorelai," Lucas begged with Rory.

Lorelai grinned evily and then shut it off. "Morning to you too, JFK and Marilyn Manroe," she joked.

"Mom," said Rory, "what does that have to do with anything? Dean and I broke up so this is nothing JFK and Marilyn Manroe like."

"Sure it isn't," said Lorelai.

"It isn't," Rory insisted.

"Keep on telling yourself that," said Lorelai.

"I will," said Rory.

"Um," said Lucas, "this situation is a little awkward so I'm just going to go."

"You do that," said Lorelai.

"Bye Rory," said Lucas, getting up from the bed and starting to leave. "Bye," Rory called to him as he left.

Lorelai looked at Rory impishly. "So," said Lorelai, "what happened?"

Rory gave her Mom a look. "Nothing," she said.

"Of course it didn't," said Lorelai disbelievingly.

"Mom," said Rory, "can you just drop this and get some breakfast?"

Lorelai laughed a little and then said, "Sure hun."

The two Gilmore Girls got showered, dressed, and ready and made their way to Luke's Diner. On the way there, they ran into the Scott clan, consisting of Nathan, Haley, Keith, and Lucas.

"Morning girls," Keith greeted them, and then turning serious he looked at Rory and said, "how you holding up?"

"I'm good," said Rory.

"You sure?" Nathan asked. "You seemed pretty bad yesterday."

"I'm good," she assured them, "really, really good. Lucas came by last night, and I got out all the hurt out on him."

"Literally," Lucas spoke up, "my shirts still wet from the crying."

"Hey!" Rory objected. "I did not cry that much."

"You did too," Lucas insisted, "do you want me to show you the shirt? Because I can if you need proof."

"No," said Rory, "I don't need proof."

"Well," said Haley, "I guess we know she's fine. Not even a day since it happened, and she's already back to bantering with our Luke."

"Who can resist our witty banter?" Lucas said.

"Friendly banter, maybe," said Rory, "but the only witty banter that comes out of our conversations is from my side."

"Smart ass," Lucas called her.

"Proud to be one," said Rory.

"Yep," Haley interjected their banter, "any broken hearts that were present were definately mended."

"Apparently," Nathan said in agreement.

"So," said Lorelai, "where were you guys off to?"

"We were just off to Luke's diner----the other Luke's---for breakfast," said Keith, "what about the two of you?"

"We were headed in the same direction," answered Lorelai.

"Well, why don't you have it with us then?" Keith offered. "Come on, it will be my treat."

"Rory, what do you say?" Lorelai asked, looking to her daughter.

"That'd be great," said Rory, "thanks Keith."

Later that afternoon, Lucas and Nathan were at the outside Stars Hollow High basketball courts. Both of them took turns shooting hoops. They had needed some time to spend together as brothers, away from the girls.

"So," said Nathan as he took a shot, "do you think that she'll be okay? Rory, I mean."

"Yeah," said Lucas, grabbing the basketball that had just bounced out of the hoop and positioning himself to make a shot, "she will. I don't think Rory's the type to turn to mush over a guy."

He made the shot and it went in directly. Nathan shook his head, "I can't believe the guy would even have the balls to ask her to choose between her friends or you. I mean, I'd never do that to Haley. That's just the lowest thing a guy could possibly do."

"Yeah, you're telling me," said Lucas, "and he did it over a cell phone. That just makes what he did even more low."

Nathan made a shot, and touched the rim of the basketball hoop as he did so. "Show off," Lucas joked.

"Ah, what can I say? That's what I'm best at," said Nathan, and then he added, changing the subject back to Rory's situation, "you know, I say we should kick the guys ass."

"Nah," said Lucas, "he's not worth it. Besides, I don't want Rory getting pissed at me."

"I'd imagine she'd be grateful," said Nathan.

"Grateful and pissed," said Lucas.

Lucas made yet another shot, and then the ball came out of the hoop, and bounced back to him. He passed the ball back to Nathan. Nathan caught it and then made a shot of his own. They had been doing this for at least an hour.

"So," said Nathan, "what happened with you and Rory last night?"

"Nothing," said Lucas, "I came in. I comforted her. She cried so much the entire sea was on my shirt. That's it."

"Oh come on," said Nathan, "something more had to have happened while you were there."

"Well, nothing did. Besides, Rory and I are just friends and even if I were to do something, it wouldn't be right for something to happen after Rory had just broken up with her boyfriend," said Lucas. Nathan just shook his head.

"What happened with Rory after she has just broken up with her boyfriend?" the familiar and unwanted voice of Dean said from behind them.

Lucas clenched his fists at the sound of Deans voice. Turning, he looked The Floppy Haired Jerk directly in the eye. "You know," he said, "it's really not polite to eavesdrop."

"You know," said Dean, "it's really not polite to make moves on girls just after they've broken up with their boyfriend. I believe that's called taking advantage of."

"Hey dude," Nathan interjected, "no one's taken advantage of anyone. You don't even know what we were talking about."

"Well I know it had something to do with your brother and Rory," Dean said.

"What you guys having a party and you didn't invite me?" another voice interupted them. The three guys turned and Lucas and Nathan saw someone that they didn't know, but Dean apparently did. He narrowed his eyes.

"Oh great, lets get all the guys that have ever been in love with Rory here," said Dean in bitter sarcasm, "c'mon and join us, Jess. We were just about to have a brothel."

"Oh great," said the guy Dean called Jess jokingly, "there's nothing I love more then a good brothel."

"Guys, you're acting like five year-olds," Nathan started.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Jess asked. "You in love with Rory too?"

"I'm married, thank you," Nathan said pointedly, nodding to the ring that was on his finger.

"Huh," said Jess, "interesting. Look, Forrester, just quite bugging these guys. Scott here hasn't made any moves on Rory and even if he did, it wouldn't matter because you're not Rory's boyfriend anymore. You made that perfectly clear when you broke up with her _over the phone in the diner _yesterday."

"Stuff it, Mariano," Dean shot at him.

"Oh, go get some balls," Jess shot back at him.

Dean glared at him and then turned his attention back to Lucas. "You know," said Dean, "I really want to punch you right now. You shouldn't have interferred. You should have just stayed the hell away from her. I mean, that's really lowsy-----going after a girl when she's dating someone."

"Hey," said Lucas, "I haven't gone after anyone. Rory and I are just friends. She tried telling you that a million times but you just wouldn't listen and then you had the nerve to ask her to choose between her friends and you. I'd say thats even lowsier then what you're accussing me of----which is something that I didn't even do by the way."

"You know what, you don't know a thing about what happened between me and Rory," said Dean.

Nathan, smirking, pulled a Haley and said, "It's Rory and I, dude."

"Whatever, ass wipe," said Dean.

"That's a real jerk off thing to do," said Nathan, "I'm not even apart of this and you're calling me names."

Dean ignored him and turned his attention to Lucas. "I want to settle this, here and now," said Dean, "c'mon, you and me."

Lucas looked at him in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me," he said, "I'm not going to fight you. There's nothing to settle."

"Oh yes there is," said Dean.

"Then pray, do tell," said Lucas.

"Rory," said Dean, "the situation. You and me, fight. If I win, you back off from Rory. If you win, then I'll back off."

"You should back off by all rights anyway because _you're not her boyfriend anymore_," Lucas pointed out.

"What are you scared?"

"No, I'm not scared. I'm just not going to fight you because Rory wouldn't want that."

"Well we've got to settle this somehow," said Dean.

Lucas was really getting tired of him. Annoyed, Lucas raised his arm and punched him in the nose. "What the hell?" Dean exclaimed. Blood was coming down from his nose. "You really want to fight me now?" Lucas asked.

Dean glared and went to go and punch him but Nathan stepped in the way. "Move," Dean ordered. Nathan did no such thing. "Move," Dean repeated. "No," said Nathan, "I won't."

"You're loss," said Dean and he made to go punch Nathan but Jess decided to step in between him and Nathan. The four guys standing in front another with one glaring at all of them about to punch someone was an odd sight to see.

"Stop being an ass, Dean," said Jess.

"Me? Being an ass?" said Dean. "I'm sorry, that's your job."

"Oh real funny," said Jess, "hilarious. You're a regular Jim Carey."

"I always thought so," said Dean.

"Well then you think too highly of yourself," said Jess, "just back off. You don't want to do this."

"How do you----" Dean started but was stopped as Nathan stepped out from behind Jess and started talking.

"Look," said Nathan, "I know how we can settle this."

"Oh," said Dean, "and how's that?"

"When Lucas and I hated each other, we had a game of basketball to settle the scores," said Nathan, "so why don't you two settle this thing that way? If Lucas wins, Dean, you back off. If Dean wins, then Lucas will back off. If its a tie, then the both of you will. How's that fine?"

"Fine with me," Lucas said, glaring at Dean.

"Fine with me too," said Dean. He zipped up his leather jacket and then left the basketball court, glancing back to glare at Nathan, Jess, and Lucas as he still did.

There was a moment of silence and the third guy turned to leave and then Lucas stopped him. "Hey," Lucas called after him, "what's your name?"

He turned and looked at him. "Jess," he said, "Jess Mariano."

"Thanks," Nathan said to Jess, "for saving my ass back there."

"Yeah well, Forresters a real dick," said Jess, "I don't like him anymore then you."

"So," said Lucas, "you going to come to the basketball game?"

"Well," said Jess, "if it means a chance to see Dean get his ass kicked, then I'm in."

"Cool," said Lucas.

"Hey," said Jess, "tell Rory I said hi."

Lucas quirked a brow and then said, "Sure. I'll tell her."

Rory Gilmore sat studying in the living room of her house. She really was a good girl. Here she was, home for the day because her boyfriend had just broken up with her, and yet she was still studying. The nickname they gave her at school, Mary, really did fit her. There was a knock on the door and Rory, figuring it was Lucas coming to see how she was doing for what must have been the millionth time that day, said, "C'mon in, Luke."

The door opened and in entered Haley and Lane. "Well, you got the Scott part right, just the wrong one," said Haley, smiling.

"Hey," said Rory, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, Haley and I met on the way here, and it turned out we were both going to see the same person, so we decided to come together," said Lane.

"Bad girl, Lane, ditching school," said Rory.

"Not really," said Lane, "it's a teachers work day or something like that. So, the only bad girl thing I did was sneak out of my house when I should be doing bible study."

"Huh," said Haley, "looks like there's a little bit of Tree Hill in Stars Hollow after all."

"Is that a compliment?" Lane asked.

"Yes," said Haley, "well, in a way, I guess."

Lane noticed what Rory was doing and let out a little groan. "Rory, Rory, Rory," said Lane, "what are you doing? You are home, from school, and your boyfriend just broke up with and you are home doing school work?"

"Oh my god," said Haley, and she looked over to see if Lane was right, "you are. Oh come on Rory, even I wouldn't do that and I'm Tutorgirl."

"Mock me all you want but we'll see whose mocking when I get into Harvard," said Rory.

"Whose doing mocking?" came the voice of Lorelai Gilmore who had just entered through the door.

"Oh, we were just mocking Rory about her excessive studying habits, which even I, Tutorgirl, marvel at," said Haley.

Lorelai also checked what Rory was doing and her eyes widened. "Honey!" she exclaimed. "You shouldn't be studying. You just broke up with your boyfriend. Studying is not something that you do if you have just broken up with your boyfriend. You should be wallowing, and be mopey, and not shave your legs and wearing pajamas and----oh my god she's not wearing pajama's. Have you learned nothing after the first break up? You always, always wear pajamas for at least a day after a break up."

"Agreed," said Lane.

"I conqure," chimed in Haley.

Rory just shook her head. "Look, guys, I'm fine, I swear," said Rory, "I did all the wallowing that I needed to do last night. I mean, Lucas has a completely wet shirt to prove it and Pete's pizza has enough money to buy yet another delivery truck as well."

"Fine, but I at least suggest that you at least do something fun instead of studying," said Lorelai.

"I can't do something fun," said Rory, "I've got school and Harvard to think about."

"Well, Harvard's a little ways away."

"Not very," said Rory.

"Rory..." her Mom said in a warning voice.

"Right," said Rory, giving in, "fun. What do you ladies want to do for fun?"

"Damn, if only Brooke were here," said Haley, "she would know what to do."

"Brooke?" Lane asked.

"Friend," said Haley, "party girl. Kind of like Louise at Rory's school only about ten times worse."

"Scary," said Lane.

"Yep," said Haley.

Lorelai smiled evily. "How about we sneak into a concert?"

"Mom," said Rory, giving her a look, "what are you, eighteen?"

"Mentally, yes, and I wish I were psyichally too," Lorelai answered and Rory just shook her head at her Mother.

"Concert sounds good," said Lane, "as long as its not too late. I'm suppossed to be home by eleven, and any later then that my Mom will freak."

"Oh don't worry," said Lorelai, "you'll be home before then."

"So, what times the concert?" Haley asked.

"It starts at ten so we should most likely get going at nine," said Lorelai.

"Mom," said Rory, "it's Stars Hollow. Who could possibly be playing in Stars Hollow?"

"Not in Stars Hollow," said Lorelai, "Hartford."

"Whose playing in Hartford?" said Rory.

"The Rock-n-roll-soldiers," said Lorelai, smiling.

"Oh my god," said Haley, "Peyton is going to be so jealous. She loves them."

Lane asked, "Whose Peyton?"

"Another friend," Haley answered, "she has a music collection that Virgin Records would marvel at."

"Dude," said Lane, "I Sooooo want to meet that girl."

"I'll give you her e-mail later," said Haley.

"Yes," exclaimed Lane.

"So," said Lorelai, "are you in for a fun night of sneaking, and good music?"

"If it means hearing Kevin Sciou play the guitar, then I am in," said Rory.

"Ditto," said Haley and Lane together.

"Right," said Lorelai, "so, girls only excursion. Haley, sorry, but the husband is going to have to stay home."

"Oh, that's all right," said Haley, "Nathan can live without me for one night and I'm sure Lucas, him, and Keith will do some guy thing or something. Y'know, sit around talking about basketball or something."

"Great," said Lorelai, "so, Lane, Haley, meet us back here, at around eight thirty so we can get ready, and then we'll leave at nine. Sound good?"

"Great," said Lane, "I'll just make up some excuse to my Mom. I could tell her were going to go see Switchfoot. She likes Switchfoot. They're christian rock, she won't care."

"Good," said Lorelai, "Switchfoot excuse. That'll do."

"Really, they're christian rock? I didn't know that," said Haley.

"Crosses and all," said Lane.

The club in Hartford in which the Rock-n-Roll-soldiers were playing was small, and yet it was packed. Mostly filled with college students, everyone in there was incredibly rowdy. Standing at the door, Haley, Lane, Lorelai and Rory looked a little out of place from the head-bangers.

They reached the front of the line to get in finally and the first question the guard asked was, "You got your tickets?"

Lorelai looked slightly guilty for a moment and then said the first thing that came to mind, "Y'know, you look like Vin Diseal."

The guard looked taken aback and yet flattered. "Really----ya think so?"

"Oh definately," said Lorelai, "when I first saw you, I couldn't tell the difference. But then you know I realized that Vin Diseal would never come to Hartford. But the resembelence between you and Vin, its uncanny."

The guy seemed to be thinking it over for a minute. "Yeah," he said, "I guess I sort of do look like Vinny."

"Its incredible how much you do," said Lorelai, "seriously, you could have been twins seperated at birth."

"Huh," said the guard and then he smiled and said, "go on in ladies. Just don't tell anyone I let you in without tickets."

Lane, Rory, Haley, and Lorelai all went in, smiling to themselves as they made their way past the guard into the doors. It took them about 2.5 seconds to burst out laughing. Once they were out of earshot from the guard, of course.

The room was full of energy and the band was playing good. They were about halfway into the eigth song when Rory got thirsty from all the dancing. Haley, Lorelai, and Lane were attempting to do some weird hip hop thing and Rory decided that now would be a good time to take a break.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Rory yelled over the music to her Mom.

"What?" Lorelai yelled back. "I can't hear you. The musics too loud. Yell a little louder."

"I said I'm going to go get a drink!" Rory shouted.

"Okay!" Lorelai shouted back. "Send up a flare if you get lost."

"Will do," Rory shouted, and laughed as she made her way to the back of the club to the bar to get a drink. She hoped that they had soda. Once at the bar, she pushed her way past some one and made it up to the bar tender.

"Hey," the guy said, "what can I get you?"

"Coke, please," said Rory.

He grabbed her an unopened coke from the ice chest underneath the bar and she took it and he told her how much it was and she paid for it. Turning around to go back to her Mom and her friends, she accidentally ran into someone. She turned around to apologize and was surprised when she saw that the person she had ran into was none other then Jess.

"Jess?" Rory said, surprised, still shouting over the music. The band had just started playing their song "Funny little feeling" now.

"Rory?" Jess said, surprised as well. "What are you doing here? This isn't your scene."

"Mom thought it would be a great distraction from the break up to do something fun," said Rory, "so we snuck into the concert."

Jess smirked. "You're not going to turn into Shannen Dhorety on me now, are you?"

"Nah," said Rory, "I just needed some fun."

"Hey, I met Lucas today," said Jess.

"Really?" said Rory. "Where?"

"Down by the basketball court by the school," said Jess, "he was there shooting hoops with Nathan. They're cool guys Ror."

"Yeah, they are," said Rory, "so what'd you guys do?"

"Lucas didn't tell you?" said Jess.

"Tell me what? He didn't say that anything important had happened when he and Nathan dropped Haley off," said Rory.

"Him and Dean got into a fight," said Jess, "I was on my way back to the diner and went by the school outdoor basketball court and Dean was there, being an ass. Nathan stopped the two of them from killing each other first, and then I did. Didn't Lucas tell you this when he told you about the basketball game?"

"The basketball game?" Rory questioned, getting more and more confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh," said Jess looking as though he'd done something wrong, "I guess I shouldn't have told you. Look, I can't tell you anymore 'cause I've already told you enough. Just ask Lucas about it when you get home but don't say you heard it from me. Say you heard it from Miss Patty or something. You know how Miss Patty gossips."

"What?" Rory asked. "I'm confused, Jess."

"I can't tell you anymore," said Jess, "look, I got to get back to my date, Shane. She's over there waiting for me. I'll talk to you later, okay, Ror?"

He then started to leave and she called after him, "Jess! Jess, come back! Damn it, JESS!" He didn't turn back but he just kept on walking.

"Funny little feeling" was almost done as Rory made her way back to Lorelai and her friends. Noting the confused look on her daughters face, Lorelai asked, "What's up sweets?"

"Mom," said Rory, "I don't want to be here anymore. I've got to go home. Lucas and Dean are going to do something?"

"What? I heard something about Dean and that was it," shouted Lorelai over the music.

"I want to go home. Dean and----"

"Say no more sweetie, we'll go home," said Lorelai. Then, turning to Haley and Lane, she said, "Hey, you guys, Rory's not up to staying here. Let's go."

"Alright," said the girls. Then, as soon as they left, the song, "Funny little feeling", ended. Rory did have a "Funny little feeling". But it wasn't the kind of feeling that the song talked about.

**A/N: So there is Chapter nine. What do you guys think? I must say, I'm amazed at how popular this story is getting. 41 of you guys have it on your favorite stories list and I must say that rocks. Just for you to know, the songs mentioned, "Funny little feeling" and "Everything" are real songs. I highly suggest you download them. They're great. To download "Funny little feeling" you can go to ****http/ and the song will be found in the multimedia section. If you don't have a program to download songs or can't find the song, "Funny little feeling" can be found on the One Tree Hill soundtrack (which is brilliant!) and "Everything" by Lifehouse can be found on the Smallville soundtrack. Both bands, Rock-n-roll soldiers and Lifehouse are GREAT. And hey, did anyone else realize that Adam Brody played Dave in season three? I didn't. I was completely shocked when I found that out yesterday. The O.C. geek is part of Gilmore Girls history. Woah.**

**Okay, so now on to the thanking of reviewers: **

**Live4Jess13: Agreed. Dean sucks. **

**Gilmore-Buffy-fan13: Rock on. Gilmore Girls AND Buffy! Put together in a penname. That rocks my socks. I love Buffy and Gilmore Girls (obviously). **

**Queenmischa: Much more yayness to come my friend. **

**Shygirly4eva: Wow. Have I made a One Tree Hill fan? My goal in life has been completed. I feel special. The best way to check out the show would be to get season one on dvd. And the oth soundtrack. ;) The soundtrack alone will make anyone a fan. Thanks for the compliment about my story. **

**Lackinglime123: Thanks. It's cool of you to say that.  **

**Sum41Rocks: I give my credit to Kirk. See episode 'The Breakup, pt. 2' for the creation of the witty nickname. **

**Druzilla: ;) Thanks. **

**LoVe23: Hey, should I put 'To be continued' at the end of the next chapter to add to the effect? Lol. Glad you liked Chapter eight.  Hope you'll like this one too. **

**Beautifulbutterfly: You're welcome and I'm glad you liked the Naley and the brotherly banter. I try my best.  **

**Fairieangel: Thanks.  **

**qHeTtOnErD: Thank you for correcting me on the age thing. Constructive criticism is something I don't mind and it wasn't really criticism. As for the spelling errors, to me, in fanfiction, bad spelling isn't the end of the world. An error here and there is not a big problem. If it were the great American novel I was writing, THEN I might get a betta or someone to look over it, or whatever. But as its just fanfiction, it's no biggie to me. But if my spelling sucked COMPLETELY and every other word were spell wrong, then I would definitely do as you said, and get a betta. Thanks for the advice and the correction on the age. ;) **

**TiCkLeDpInK22: Glad you liked the Paris thing. And I, like you, am glad Dean is gone. And he gets his butt kicked at basketball in the next chapter. Hooray. **

**Princetongirl **

**KarahBella: lol. Dumbo. Dumbo Dean. I like. It suits him. ;) **

**Solodancer: Glad you didn't miss Smallville. I guess I'm always one to like the snoopy characters, which is why I like Chloe. That and I'm never one to be a girly girl and Chloe can kick some major ass. But I won't debate about Smallville characters with you. I'm stubborn and knowing me, it would lead to something bad and I don't want that. Lol. Thanks for reading. And Luke might possibly interfere with Keith and Lorelai's dancing at the dance marathon. Who knows. **

**Poetic Angelica: Well put about Dean, my friend. He IS a moron. Glad you like the story. **

**Katydid7186: lol. Sure. Why not? It could be shirts vs. skins. Skins being Lucas because no one wants to look at Dean's scrawny body. Lol. **


	10. Fight Test

Chapter ten

Fight Test

"Up!" the female voice of someone screeched. "Up. Get your butt up. Out of bed, now." This was so completely out of the blue that Lucas thought for a moment he was dreaming, so he decided it didn't matter whether or not he opened his eyes. So he kept his eyes shut because if it was a dream no one would get mad at him if he didn't open them.

"Lucas freaking Ugine Scott get your butt up out of bed, now!" the female screeched again. Lucas shot up in bed instantly. What the hell? Was that his Mom? Blinking, Lucas let his eyes adjust to the light, and when his vision came into focus, he was surprised to meet the face of a very angry Rory Gilmore.

Her cheeks were flooshed and she stood at the foot of his bed, dressed in jeans and a tank top, and he noted that there was a little bit of sweat on her forehead and her neck. What on earth was she doing here? It was...he checked his clock. It was eleven o' clock at night. Wasn't she suppossed to be with Haley, Lane, and Lorelai at a concert?

"Rory?" Lucas croaked. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the concert thing with your Mom and Haley and Lane?"

"I went to the concert thing," said Rory, irked.

"How was it?" Lucas said sitting up in bed.

"It was good," said Rory, still sounding irked, "until a little birdie landed on my shoulder and told me some very interesting news?"

"And what did this little birdie tell you?"

"Well, this little birdie first sang _A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down _and then, it chirped to me that something very interesting had occured between a certain friend and a certain ex-boyfriend of mine," Rory answered.

Lucas sighed. I won't kill Jess, he told himself, I won't kill Jess. I won't kill Jess. I'll just take my anger out on Dean. I won't kill Jess. I won't kill Jess.

"What did this birdie say had occurred between the friend and the ex-boyfriend?" said Lucas.

"Well," said Rory, "it seems that my ex-boyfriend and my friend made a deal about something involving basketball and myself."

"Two very good combinations," joked Lucas.

Rory gave him a look. "C'mon Luke," said Rory, "don't joke about this. What are you and Dean planning on doing?"

"Um, we became friends and are planning on starting a basketball team and using you as a cheerleader," Lucas lied joking.

"Oh, very funny Mr. Ramonoe," said Rory, sarcasm in her voice, "now please tell me, what are you planning on doing with Dean that involves myself and basketball?"

Lucas sighed. "Do I really have to tell you Rory?" he asked.

"Only if you like living," she answered.

"Well, that makes it so that there's no loophole," said Lucas.

"Nope," said Rory, "there's no loophole. Now come on, tell me."

"Look," said Lucas, "its no big deal. Dean just wants a basketball game to 'settle' things. If he wins, then I 'back off'----which I won't do, by the way. Then if I win, he 'backs off' which hopefully he will do. If its a tie, we both 'back off' but I know I won't be backing off. You're my friend, and it doesn't matter what Dean thinks to me."

Rory bit her lip. "You know," said Rory, "you don't have to play the basketball game. I mean, who cares about Dean? He's just being an idiot---I mean, he was an idiot before, but now he has just reached a new level of idioticness."

"I know I don't," said Lucas, "he most likely won't even remember it, knowing how much of a small brain he has. But you know, if it does happen, the basketball game, I want to. Not just because I like basketball, but also for you. Sounds completely cheesy, but I want to play for you. He's been such a jerk to you and if I can't beat him up, then you know, at least I can beat him at basketball."

Rory laughed. "You're a terd," she said, "I can't believe you went behind my back and set this up. I should have at least been there. At least I could have thrown some witty comeback in his face."

"Well," said Lucas smirking, "if it makes you feel better, I did punch him and give him a bloody nose."

Rory's eyes widdened. "You did _not_!" she exclaimed.

"Oh but I did," said Lucas.

"That rocks Luke," said Rory.

"Thank you," said Lucas, "I try."

"Hey," said Rory, "mind if I stay over here tonight?"

"Not at all," said Lucas, "crawl on in."

Rory smiled and did just that, crawling into his bed and then he pulled the sheets up over her. However, after a few moments, Rory realized for the first time that Lucas was shirtless as she went to go use his chest as her pillow again and found that there was no material seperating her from the skin, there was just skin.

Sitting up instantly, she said, "Um, Luke."

"Yeah Ror?" he said. "You okay? You're acting weird."

"Shirt," she said.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked.

"Shirt," she repeated, "you're not wearing a shirt."

"Thank you for noticing?" Lucas said, not quite getting the point that Rory was trying to make by noticing that he didn't have his shirt on.

"I'm sleeping in your bed and you have your shirt off," said Rory, "its odd."

"Rory," said Lucas, "c'mon. It's not that big of deal. I mean, we're just friends. It's not like anythings going to happen. So I'm shirtless, no big deal."

Rory couldn't help but stare at his chest. Who could blame her? It was just kind of out there for all the world to see. God, the boy was built. Really, really built. No, Rory, she told herself, he's your friend. He is Lucas. Friend. You can not be attracted to your friend.

"You've seen Dawsons Creek," said Rory, "you know what happened to Joey and Dawson."

"Yes," said Lucas, "and they slept in the same bed for years, and that was when he had a shirt on."

"And you have your shirt off," said Rory, "that's going to make things awkward."

"Ror," said Lucas, "I swear on my life that I will not let any secret desires that I have for you suddenly come out while we're sleeping, alright? You will still be my Jamie Sullivan in the morning."

"What is it with blonde guys giving me nicknames associated with innocence?" Rory said more so to herself.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing, that was a rehtorical question," said Rory.

Lucas just shook his head. Then, remembering that she had said his middle name earlier, he asked, "Hey. How'd you get my middle name?"

Rory smirked, his shirtlessness forgotten. "Haley," she said, "best friends can be particularly usefull."

"Evil," said Lucas, "should I be looking for a knife in the heart next?"

"Nah," said Rory, "a diamond. They're a girls best friend."

"Aren't you suppossed to be quoting Anne Frank and not Marilyn Manroe?" he asked.

"Well I only read The Diary of Anne Frank once, so, I'm excused," she said.

"So are we going to sleep anytime soon?"

"Only if you get to be my human pillow again," said Rory.

"Not worried about the no shirt thing anymore?"

"Call me Jamie in the morning and I will be fine," she answered.

Lucas smiled and then wrapped his arms around her and the two of them closed their eyes. But before they went to sleep, Rory said, "Night Dawson."

Lucas chuckled inwardly to himself and said, "Night Joey."

Rory snuck out of Lucas's house the next morning and went up the stairs of the porch to her house. She sniffed her jacket and smiled a little as it smelled like Lucas. Rory couldn't describe it but there was something about his smell. It was good, it was purely Lucas. Opening the door to her house, Rory walked inside and then went to the kitchen to find Lorelai sitting there, looking incredibly perky, and smiling.

"You're happy," said Rory.

"Yes, I am," said Lorelai, "you want to know why I'm happy?"

"Um, because you finally met Brad Pitt?" Rory guessed.

"Nope, try again."

"Tom Cruise?"

"Nope."

"I give up," said Rory, "tell me."

Then Lorelai rummaged through her jean pocket and took out a picture of a sleeping (and shirtless) Lucas with his arms around Rory. Rory got a horrified look on her face. "How did you get this?" She demanded.

"I came to see what was taking you so long last night at The Scott Boys residents, and low and behold, this is what I found when I entered the room of the youngest Scott," Lorelai informed her.

"Who let you take the picture?"

"Keith," said Lorelai, "after we laughed ourselves silly forever."

"Oh my god," said Rory, "I can't believe you got a picture of me sleeping with Lucas. Well not that kind of sleeping, but just, sleeping, sleeping, with eyes shut and him snoring and..."

"Do you want to keep on digging the hole? Because at the rate you're going, you are going to be in China by the afternoon," said Lorelai.

"I'm going to go get ready for school," said Rory in an effort to change the subject.

"Don't think I'm going to forget this."

"I can hope."

"Won't do you much good."

"I'll still hope," Rory called from within her room and she changed into her Chilton uniform and then put her hair into something resembling a pony tail and then went back out to the kitchen where Lorelai still was, "Okay. I'm ready. Let's go to Luke's."

"You were just there," Lorelai said, teasing.

Rory gave her Mother a look that cleary said "behave". "Not that Luke," said Rory, "Luke. Not Lucas. Luke."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the other ones?"

"I'm sure," said Rory, "he'll be at Luke's anyway."

Lorelai snickered. "What?" Rory asked.

"Nothing," said Lorelai and then the two headed to Luke's (diner). Once at the diner, the two spotted Keith and Lucas sitting at a table in the corner and were waved over by t

he Scott boys to come and join them so they did just that.

"Hey Joey," Lucas greeted Rory.

"Hey Dawson," she said, smiling at the memory from last night.

Keith being a little confused, said, "Okay, I'm missing something here. Did you two get name changes without consulting the grownups first or something?"

"No," said Rory, "we just nicknamed each other last night."

"It was Rory's idea," said Lucas.

"And how exactly did this come up?" Keith asked.

Rory and Lucas both looked uncomfortable for a moment. Then Lucas spoke up and answered by simply saying, "It's a long story."

"Involving dirty slumber parties," Lorelai inputted, causing Rory and Lucas to both give her a look. Keith just shook his head, and inwardly laughed. There was an awkward silence in the air. Finally after what seemed forever, Jess came over to take their order.

"Hey," he said, "what can I get you?"

"Hey Jess," Lucas greeted.

"Hey Luke," Jess returned the greeting.

Lorelai looked between the two with an odd look on her face. "Okay," said Lorelai, "when did you two become Joey and Chandler?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "When did saying hi consitute as being Joey and Chandler?"

"When it was said between two people who have never met a day in their lives," said Lorelai.

"Um, Jess, you want to take those orders now?" Rory butted in attempting to deter the conversation.

"How do you know we've never met Lorelai? I mean, it's a small, small town," said Jess, "I could have met him any day of the week. He hangs out by the basketball court at school, I could have met him then."

"You don't play basketball," said Lorelai.

"Well, I started taking it up," said Jess sarcastically, "its a new hobby of mine."

"Food, please," Lucas interupted.

Lorelai ignored him and kept her focus on Jess. "When did you two meet Jess?" said Lorelai.

"Fine, you really want to know Lorelai? We met yesterday. I was walking home, saw him in a jam at the basketball court, helped him out," said Jess.

"Really?" said Lorelai. "Is that all you did? Because I don't think that's all that you did. I mean, we went home early from a concert to find out what you did."

"Well, I'm sorry I ruined your night with The Spice Girls," Jess said with sarcasm.

"Lorelai, really, all he did was help me out of a jam," said Lucas, "that was it."

"You don't have to defend him you know," said Lorelai, "he's a jerk, I know he is. If he did something to be a jerk, then you can just tell me here and now."

"Mom!" exclaimed Rory, horrified that she would even say something like that.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"Outside, now," said Rory and she dragged a protesting Lorelai out the door of Luke's Diner.

"What was that about?" Rory demanded.

"I was trying to find out what he did to Lucas that had you so freaked out last night that we had to go home," said Lorelai.

Rory gave her Mother an irritated look. "Mom," said Rory, "Jess did nothing. He did nothing but help Lucas out of a tight spot."

"I don't believe it," said Lorelai, "you were mad last night after you ran into him and that can only lead me to believe that he did something to Lucas."

"He did nothing to Lucas," said Rory.

"Then who did? Because I have never seen you so pissed."

Rory hesitated before answering. She really didn't want to tell her Mother about the basketball game that Dean and Lucas had set up and the near fight that the two had gotten into. Because if she did, now that her Mom was on a roll, she would go directly over to Doose's and yell at Dean for being an ass. Not that she minded the idea of her Mom yelling at Dean, but still, that would just be a little bit embaressing and Rory had no desire what so ever to be embarressed.

"Dean," she finally answered, "Dean was the one who messed with Lucas."

"Unfreakingbelievable," said Lorelai, "what did he do?"

"He came over to the basketball court yesterday when Lucas and Nathan were playing and then he harrassed them, and Jess came over to stop a fight from happening, and he stopped Dean from hitting Lucas," said Rory.

"Ugh," said Lorelai, "I can't believe I thought he was a good first boyfriend for you."

"Not your fault," said Rory, "we all have bad judgement."

"Sorry," said Lorelai.

"Apology accepted," said Rory.

Lorelai, a smile creeping up on her face, then said, "So tell me that Lucas at least got to punch Dean."

Rory smirked. "Made him get a nose bleed and all," she said.

"That's our Dawson," said Lorelai.

"Hey," said Rory, "_my nickname for him_."

"Well, what do you want me to call him then?"

"I dunno," said Rory, "Jock Boy?"

"Huh," said Lorelai, "that works."

"So," said Rory, "you want to go somewhere else for breakfast after the scene in there?"

"Yeah," said Lorelai, "we'd better."

Later that day at school, Rory and Lucas sat together at a table for lunch. "So," said Rory, "how long is the Naley going to stay here?"

"The what?"

"It's my nickname for Peyton and Haley," said Rory.

"Ah," said Lucas, "they're going to stay for the basketball game and then they're going home after that."

"Aw," said Rory, "Haley and I were becoming attached to the hip."

"Well, you've still got Lane and I attached," said Lucas.

"That's something," said Rory.

"So," said Lucas, "how was dinner with the grandparents last friday?"

"Eh," said Rory, "the usual. Mom said something to make Grandma mad and she sat in silence the whole night picking at her food and left muttering something about running her over with a car."

"Dude," said Lucas, "you have to record those things for me."

"Ah," said Rory, "not something you'd want to go to though."

"Nah," said Lucas, "your Mom has made your Grandmother sound scarier then the guy from that movie Saw."

"She's not that bad," said Rory.

"I still think I'll pass," said Lucas.

"So," said Rory, changing the subject, "whens the basketball game?"

"Wensday," said Lucas.

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she said. "Odd day."

"Odd guy," said Lucas, "he said that was the only time that he could get out of his shift at Doose's."

"When did you guys decide this?"

"He left a message on my cell phone that I got this morning," said Lucas.

"How'd he get your cell phone number?" Rory asked.

"I'm still drawing a blank there," he said, "but you know, its a small town."

"That it is," agreed Rory.

Just then, Paris Gellar came up to their table, looking slightly paranoid. "He's here," she said.

Rory and Lucas both gave her an odd look. "Whose here?" they both asked at the same time.

"Jamie," said Paris.

Rory's eyes widdened. "No way," said Rory, "first date Jamie?"

"Yes, my first date Jamie," said Paris.

"Could someone please fill me in here?" said Lucas.

"I'll fill you in later," Rory assured him.

"Okay," said Lucas.

"So," said Rory, "aren't you going to talk to him?"

"He didn't call me," said Paris, "it's been weeks since that date in D.C. and he never once called me. Why should I go and talk to him?"

"Because he came here to see you for starters," said Rory.

"I don't know," said Paris, "what do I do? What do I say to him?"

"Hi, how are you?" Rory offered.

"Cute," said Paris sarcastically.

Rory laughed. "Look, Paris, the guy obviously came to see you, so why don't you just go and talk to him? Start with a nice hi, and then you'll go from there."

"Yeah, that might work," said Paris and Rory just rolled her eyes, and then Paris, smiling, said, "Thanks Rory. Bye Rory. Bye Lucas."

"Bye Paris," said Lucas as she left. Then, once she was out of earshot, he said, "Okay, that girls weird."

"But we love her for it," said Rory.

"So," said Lucas, "whose Jamie?"

Rory smiled and began feeling him in, "Jamie is this college guy who goes to Princeton and we met him while we were in D.C. and him and Paris were debate partners for this thing and..."

Wensday came quickly and the night of the basketball game arrived. "Hey, should I be wearing orange for this thing?" Lorelai asked as they were getting ready for it. "Or does Lucas have some sort of team colors he wants us to wear?"

"I don't know," said Rory, "but the team colors from his old school are black and blue."

"Huh, the colors of a bruise," said Lorelai, "very fitting for a basketball team."

"Indeed," said Rory.

"Rory?" the voice of Lane called as she entered.

"In my Mom's room," Rory called.

There was the sound of footsteps as she came up the stairs and Lane entered, looking festive with a 'Girls basketball' shirt on. "Nice," Rory complimented her on her attire.

"Thank you," said Lane.

"So," said Rory, "how'd you convince your Mom to let you go?"

"I lied and said I was going to an extra mandatory band practice," said Lane.

"I do believe Tree Hill is rubbing off of you," said Rory.

"Well, I wish it had rubbed off a lot sooner," said Lane.

Rory laughed. "Okay," said Lorelai, "I'm ready. Let's head out troops."

The three girls made their way to the Stars Hollow out door basketball court. There was a large group of people. Some of them were supporting Dean, those who knew Rory and Lorelai though and were from their neighborhood were supporting Lucas. Several carts were there selling an array of food and t-shirts and things and it looked more like a carnival then a basketball game.

"Wow," said Lane, "and I thought we went all out for the winter carnival."

"Yeah," said Rory.

"Well, that's Stars Hollow for you," said Lorelai, "we know how to turn anything into an excuse to hold a big event where junk food is served and souviners."

"Mmhm," said Rory.

"Hey, I see Nathan and Haley over there," Lane pointed out the married teens and the girls walked over to where they were.

"Hey, you made it!" Haley said. "Great!"

"Do I look like a girl who would miss a chance to see my best friend kick my ex-boyfriends ass?" said Rory.

"Nope," said Haley, and then, "Hey Lane, hey Lorelai."

"Hey," both girls greeted.

"Lucas went to go get his basketball from his truck since Dean didn't have one," said Nathan, "and he wanted you to go see him Rory. He's over in the school parking lot."

"Oh, okay," said Rory, "see you guys in a few."

"Ah, there's Sookie and Jackson," said Lorelai, "I'm going to go over there with my fellow peers, the adults. I'll see you guys later."

"Later," the teens said and then when Lorelai and Rory left Lane, Haley, and Nathan were left to talk amongst themselves.

"Hey Lane," said Haley, "do you know if Rory likes Lucas?"

"I dunno," said Lane, adjusting her coat, "she hasn't mentioned it to me and I'm usually the first person after Lorelai that she tells and she hasn't told Lorelai anything."

Then, Lane asked, "Why did Lucas say that he did?"

"No, Lucas didn't say that he did," said Nathan, giving Haley a look, "Haley is just determinded to play matchmaker between the two."

"Oh, stop, you make it sound like its a bad thing," said Haley, "I just think that they would make a really cute couple and all they need is an extra push to reach the step of becoming a couple."

"Haley, not everyone has to be in a relationship," said Nathan, "and Rory and Lucas don't want to be in a relationship right now."

Lane thought about it for a moment. "She is right," said Lane, "they would make a cute couple."

"See, she agrees with me," said Haley, "so you want to help me get them together?"

"Sure, just tell me what needs to be done," said Lane.

Nathan just shook his head ats the two girls started making plans for what they had dubbed operation True Love.

Meanwhile, in the parking lot, Rory found Lucas standing by his red truck. "Hey there Dawson," she said, smiling.

"Hey there Joey," said Lucas.

They sat there in silence and then Rory said, "What's up Luke? It seems like you've got something on your mind."

After a moment, Lucas said, "I don't have to do this if you don't want me too."

Then, Rory, confused, asked, "Do what?"

"The basketball game," he said.

"We already talked about this," said Rory.

"Yeah," said Lucas, "but yesterday at the diner with your mom..."

Rory just smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about that Luke," she said, "that was nothing. That was just something else. It had nothing to do with you."

"Are you sure?" said Lucas.

"I'm sure," she said, "c'mon, grab your ball and lets go so you can kick Dean's butt."

Lucas smiled. "Alright," he said, and grabbed his basketball and the two of them walked back to where the basketball game was. Dean was there when he arrived, and waiting. When he noticed the two of them walk in, with Lucas having his arm around Rory, and Rory smiling, Dean shot them a nasty glare. Lucas just smiled and waved at him.

Then Rory went back off to where Nathan, Haley and Lane were and Lucas walked onto the court to where Dean stood in the middle, waiting. Lucas handed the ball to Taylor who was going to be the referree.

Rory watched all this as she stood with Nathan, Lane, and Haley. "God, I hope they don't kill each other," said Rory.

"Same here," the others echoed in agreement.

Jess walked up to them then rubbing his hands to keep them warm and said, "The gangs all here?"

"Yep," said Rory, "didn't think you'd want to be here."

"Well, Deans going to get his butt kicked," said Jess, "I wouldn't miss that for the world."

Rory smiled and shook her head and turned her attention back to where Lucas and Dean were in the middle of the court. Taylor had the basketball and was holding it in the middle between them.

"Now I want a nice, clean, game boys," he said with a warning look at the two of them, "first person to get fifteen points wins.Shirts vs. skins."

**(A/N: I know nothing about basketball so bare with me here and please, I beg of you, do not rag on me for my lack of basketball knowledge, okay?) **

Rory, hearing this, asked, "What does shirts vs. skins mean?"

Nathan was about to answer, but stopped when he heard Dean say, "Don't look at me, Taylor. I'm not freezing my butt off. I'll be shirts."

Nathan shouted, "Yeah, typical from an ass wipe." The crowd chuckled at this and Dean just glared.

"Oh, shove it, Daddy's boy," The Floppy Haired Jerk shouted back at Nathan.

"Gentlemen, if you please, I would like to get this show on the road," said Taylor, sounding annoyed.

Lucas rolled his eyes and then took off his shirt. He threw it to Rory and she caught it. "Oh," said Rory, her eyes wide as she looked at Lucas's chest, "that's what Shirts vs. Skins is."

Haley poked Nathan in the side and said, "See, I told you she liked him." Nathan just shook his head.

The conversation ceased as Taylor blew his whistle and both Lucas and Dean went for the basketball and Dean managed to grab the ball and started to dribble across the court to the basketball hoop and Lucas tried to get the ball from him and managed to grab it before he reached the hoop and went to make a shot but missed and this earned an "Ahhhhhh," from the crowd.

Lucas caught the ball, and a determined Dean tried to get it in his possession again, but Dean couldn't get it because Lucas was too fast for him. Lucas went to make another shot and then managed to make it in.

"Go blonde guy!" came a shout from Kirk in the audience from where Sookie, Jackson, and Lorelai were standing. Lorelai shook her head.

"His names Lucas, Kirk," she said.

"Oh," said Kirk, and then he shouted, "Go Lucas!"

Dean decided to play dirty then in a desperate attempt to get the ball and he elbowed Lucas in the nose, hard, making him bleed and knocking him over, and he got the ball. He ignored Taylors yelling of, "Fowl! That's a fowl young man!" and then he dribbled the ball and went to make a shot and made it in the hoop much to the pleasure of the enthusiastic Dean supporters.

The crowd was getting more entergetic as the game went on. Point for Dean, Point for Lucas, Point for Dean, no points for anyone, Point for Lucas, Point for Lucas, Point for Dean, Point for Dean, near point for Dean, but no cigar. Point for Lucas, Point for Lucas, Point for Lucas, Point for Lucas. Point for Dean, and Dean again. No points for anyone.

It kept on going on like this.

The game went on for quite some time and Lucas and Dean were at a tie and it looked like no one was going to win. Back in the middle once again, Lucas and Dean were having a staring contest as they were waiting for Taylor to blow the whistle so they could go for the ball again.

"You know," said Dean to Lucas, "you might as well give up now. You can't win this Scott."

This next shot would be the last point. Both of them had fourteen now. One of them would win the game if someone made this shot.

"You know what," said Lucas, "I'm going to win this. And when I win this, this, this will be for Rory and all the shit that you tried to pull with her."

Dean just glared and then Taylor blew the whistle. Lucas got the basketball faster then you could say 'supercalafrenchalipsticexpaladocious'. Faster then an eyeblink, he was down the court, dribbling the ball, and he made his shot.

But it didn't go in; instead the ball circled around the rim of the hoop.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The crowd was holding their breath for fear that if they let it out it could cause the outcome of the game.

"C'mon," Rory breathed.

Then, almost as if the basketball had heard her, it went directly into the hoop. A loud cheer errupted from the Lucas supporters and they walked over to where Lucas was standing a look of relief on his face.

Dean sulked off of the court, and no one noticed, nor cared when he went.

Rory ran up to Lucas and he caught her in his arms, twirling her around. "You did it! You did it!" she squealed.

"I know," said Lucas.

"I told you that you could," said Rory.

Jess came up from behind and patted Lucas on the shoulder. "Good game, Luke," he said, "thanks for kicking his ass for me."

"You're welcome," said Lucas, "although it wasn't for you, it was for Rory."

Rory smiled. "You're sweet," she said.

Jess shook his head at the two. "Whatever," he said, "still. Thanks. Congratulations on the win."

"Thank you man," said Lucas, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," said Jess, "Later."

Lorelai walked up to where the two teenagers were in the middle of the crowd. "Okay," she said, "you are my new favorite person. Seriously. After Rory, of course, and Lane, and the other Luke. But after them, you are my favorite person. Thank you so much for kicking Dean's butt."

Lucas laughed. "You're welcome," he said, "I want to go talk to Nathan and Haley so we'll see you later."

"K," said Lorelai, and then, turning to Rory, "I assume you want to go to the victory party for hero boy over there, so I will see you later."

"Okay," said Rory, "later."

"Not too late because you've got school in the morning _and _if you're going to have one of your sleepovers with Dawson over there, call me, okay?" said Lorelai.

Rory just shook her head. "Will do," she said.

Rory and Lucas walked over to where Haley and Nathan were. "Hey," she said to Lucas, "I've got your shirt."

"So you do," said Lucas, "can I have it?"

"Nah," said Rory, "we've become attached to one another."

"Ah, well, you can keep it then."

"No need," said Rory, "I was just joking." She rummaged through her purse and found the shirt for him and he put it on. They found Nathan and Haley there but Lane had gone home directly after the game ended because it was nearing her curfew.

"Hey there, winner," said Haley.

"Good game bro," said Nathan.

"Thanks," said Lucas.

"It was a very good game," said Rory, "I'm not a basketball fan, but after that, I think I'm converting."

"Nice to here," said Nathan, laughing, then turning to Lucas, he said, "so Nathan and Haley and I are going to stay for a few more days."

"Yeah," said Haley, "I can't leave you yet. I've become too used to having you around again."

Lucas was a little confused. "What about school?"

"Peyton's getting our stuff and sending it to us at the inn," said Nathan.

"Well, this is nice," said Rory, "what brought this about?"

"I'm going to drag Nathan antique shopping to get some stuff for the appartment," said Haley.

"Sure you are, Hales," said Nathan with a little sarcasm. But if Rory and Lucas noticed it, they didn't say a word.

Haley just smiled.

"Hey you want to come with us? We were going to go get coffee or walk around or something," offered Lucas.

"Nah, we'll celebrate with you later," said Haley, "we're both tired and are going to hit the sack."

"I thought that you wanted to cel-----" Nathan started to say something but Haley nudged him in the hip.

"Are you sure?" said Rory. "We'd love it if you'd join us."

"We're sure," said Haley, and then faking a yawn, she said, "We're completely beat."

"Okay then," said Rory, "we'll see you later."

"Yeah," said Haley, putting Nathan's arms around her, "later."

Nathan just shook his head. "Later you guys," he said.

The two walked off and as soon as they were out of ear shot, Nathan said, "What was that about?"

"Well, the more alone time they get, the better."

"Whatever, cupid." Nathan smiled and hugged her closer to them as he walked them back to their car.

Rory and Lucas watched the married couple walk off and smiled. "So," said Rory, "how much do you want to bet that they're going off to have sex?"

"Five bucks," said Lucas.

"You're on," she said, smiling.

"So," said Lucas, "coffee and pie?"

"Sounds good," she said and the two walked off together, Lucas being told "Congratulations" for what must have been at least a million times by people. As they walked the streets of Stars Hollow to where ever it was to go get food, Rory could have sworn she saw her Mom, Lorelai, and Keith walking down the street together, but she brushed it off, shaking her head at the thought.

"You okay?" Lucas asked, noticing the weird expression on her face.

"Yeah," said Rory, "I'm fine."

The two kept on walking.

**"To be continued" (A/N: Specifically for LoVe23. Hoped you liked this "episode".) **

**A/N: So, there's chapter ten. I hope I didn't describe the basketball game too horribly. Basketball fans, if you want to throw something at me, please let it be pillows. As I said, I know NOTHING about the game. I want to thank Mar0506 for adding me to the c2 community and all forty-seven people who have added this story to their favorites list. It means a lot to me, as I've mentioned like a million times, but I still feel really special when people do that. :) **

**Thanks to: **

**Sexyheather910x **

**forevercynical-Yes, I agree with you. "It's Rory and I" was the best line in Ch. 9. I'm glad you liked it. Thanks I'm glad you think that I have talent. **

**Lori2279 **

**OTHlover04 **

**kylie1403: I hear ya sister. Dean sucks. **

**Lolitaro fan of j.r.a**

**beautymarked: Gah. Exams. I hope they went okay for you. And hey, no worries about not reviewing. No biggie. **

**mar0506: Aw, thanks Marisol. I'm happy you added it to your c2 community. I'm really glad you liked it. **

**gHetOnErD: Glad to be of service. ;) **

**beautifulbutterfly: Glad you liked the chapters. Yeah, Lucas comforting Rory is definately something he would do. Glad you agree. And I love writing Jess parts, so there will be more to come from him. **

**Druzilla: Yeah, I thought "Everything" was a Trory song too, and it seemed fitting for Rory and Lucas as well. I got the "Smallville" soundtrack the day before yesterday and I was listening to it when I wrote the chapter. It was weird about Adam Brody. I seriously didn't know it was him. I saw Mr and Mrs. Smith and he had a small part in it then I bought GG season three and I here his voice when Dave leaves a message for Lane about the band at the Gilmore Girls house and then at the end of the town meeting when he and Lane meet and I was all, Woah! Its The O.C. dude. I tried watching The O.C. but I couldn't. Every time, I would just crack up laughing at the characters for the stupidity. Adam is no longer on my hate list for actors though, because of the Gilmore Girls thing. He is forgiven for The O.C. To other The O.C. fans out there, know that I TRIED to get into it. I really, really did. I watched it at least ten times before I gave up on it completely. **

**Poetic Angelica: Aw. Glad that the voiceover to Lifehouse was smile worthy. And I hoped you liked the basketball face off. **

**jmarit17:Aw, don't feel too bad for Jess. He'll go to Tree Hill with them in a few chapters and get TWO love interests. So, no worries about Jess's love life. I'm glad you liked the basketball court thing. There will be more Nathan and Dean interaction to come. There was a little bit but not much in this chapter. I'm glad you liked it. Aw, the stories on your top ten? I'm pleased. Thank you, Kellie. **

**Lackinglime123 **

**Sum41rocks: It amazes me that people don't know Switchfoot is a christian rock band. You think that would be a common fact. I mean, it's a little obvious. I figured that out the instantI saw them on The A Walk to Remember soundtrack. They're a good band though. I will say that they're songs are getting overplayed, and it ticks me off that everyones obsessed with them now. I've liked them for three years. There used to be a time when I'd mention them and people would go, "Who?" I miss that.** **Ah, my friend, you've got good taste in music. I got the Lifehouse c.d. the other day and they're on the smallville soundtrack. Nice to know someone else who knows The Rock-n-roll-soldiers too. They rock my socks and are my recent music obsession. I plan on downloading their c.d. soon.**

**LoVe23: lol. I'm glad you liked it. Did you notice the "To be continued" at the end of the chapter? 'Cause I put it there for you. **

**solodancer : Ah, yes he is nuts for going to go see Rory in one in the morning. Lucas is slightly insane in the head. He's also in love too but he doesn't know it yet. P.S I agree. Lana CAN pull a Buffy and kick ass. Especially this season. Damn, the girls kick on the season finale when she kicked Jason's Mom was good. Did you see that? I remembered that when I got your review. **

**katydid7186: There's two scenes of skin for ya! **

**TiCkLeDpInK: Well, the hero DOES always win. lol. I like friendly Jess too. He's fun to write. **

**Thanks you guys. For the millionth time, you all rock. If any of you have aol instant messanger or even aol and wanna talk, my aol screen name is Msbudclyde and my aim screenname is TutorgirlHaley. I.M me whenever. Just ask if its WittyHeroine from and give me your penname on here and I'll talk to you. I'm in desperate need of people to talk to as I'll be going up to Montana for the summer and my friends are like, NEVER on.**

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	11. Story of the year

**Disclaimer: One Tree Hill is owned by Mark Schwan and the W.B. as Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman Palladino and the W.b. I am in no way associated with either of them, or any of the cast from either shows. I am just a fanfiction writer who writes the stories for fun and for _NO_ profit what so ever.**

**A/N: In the previous chapter, I made a mistake and put Peyton in a sentence where it should have been Nathan. Yes, it was suppossed to be Nathan. I figured I would mention that here so I didn't have to mention the like, ten reviews I got noting that. Thanks to those of you who pointed it out. To the people who keep telling me I should get a beta, it's JUST fanfiction. I know some people are serious about that sort of thing, but the only things I edit are my novels. Fanfiction just isn't something that I think needs to be edited. It is written for fun for me, basically as a writing exercise, which is how I view it. It's where I write until I can get ideas for an actual book that I work on. It's no big deal if it's not edited. So no freak outs, okay? Thanks to those who offered though, it was very sweet of you. However, if you do notice any big mistakes, please feel free to point them out to me in a review, and I'll put an authors note correcting it in the next chapter. **

Chapter 11

"Story of the year"

Lorelai, after congratulating Lucas, went back over to where Sookie and Jackson were."Great game," Sookie commented, "good on Lucas for beating Dean."

"You're telling me," said Lorelai, "I wanted to rip the kids head off when he knocked Lucas down. The Big Floppy Haired Jerk."

Sookie chuckled. "Very fitting nickname," said Sookie.

"Yeah well, it's curtsy of Kirk from the first break up," said Lorelai, "but Lucas took it, and then I took it."

"I can't believe him," said Jackson, "Dean, I mean. Where is the little weasel? I wanted him to mock him, but he just LEFT. Who leaves before they can get mocked after losing a game?"

"The loser," replied Lorelai.

"Oh," said Jackson, "right. Any idea where he might of gone? I could go there and mock him there."

"Hopefully, he crawled into a hole and died," said Lorelai, "because that's where he should be. In a hole, crying like a baby...or dead. Either one of those would do."

"I agree," said Sookie, "he's just the biggest jerk in the world for breaking up with Rory AGAIN and all I want to do is take my meat cleaver to him and hack him up into tiny little pieces and have him cooked and feed him to the vultures and------"

"Sookie," interrupted Lorelai, "calm down."

"Oh, right," said Sookie, "sorry I was just getting ahead of myself."

"I'd say you were getting a lot ahead of yourself," said Lorelai.

"So, where do you think Rory and Lucas went to?"

"Oh, they're most likely went to go hang out," said Lorelai, "you know, there's most likely an I Hate Dean party somewhere and they're probably going to go throw darts at a big poster with his face on it."

"Funny," said Sookie, "or they could be going to make out."

"They've nicknamed themselves Dawson and Joey, I highly doubt that they are going to go and make out," said Lorelai, "besides, they're just friends, and Rory just broke up with Dean, and judging from Lucas's recent history in relationships, I highly doubt that anything is going to happen between the two."

"Keep on telling yourself that, Lor," said Sookie, "the boy is a fine—"

"Sookie!" Jackson exclaimed.

"I was only saying..."

"Well could you do so away from my ears? I would much rather _not _hear you talk about other men in my presence," said Jackson, "especially ones that are underage."

"I'm sorry," said Sookie, "but like I said, I was only commenting. It means nothing that Lucas is a nice specimen to look at."

"Sookie!"

"What?"

"I'm not listening to this," said Jackson and he put his fingers in his ears and started going, "LA LA LA LA NOT LISTENING LA LA LA LA NOT LISTENING."

Sookie rolled her eyes at her husbands antics. "I shouldn't have said anything," said Sookie, "so, what about you Lorelai? Going to any of the after the game parties?"

"Nah," said Lorelai, "I figured I would just go to my Luke's, get a cup of coffee, and then I'd be heading home and wait for Rory. But she'll most likely spend the night at her Luke's, so I figure I will stay up a little while and see if she comes home, and then I'll go to sleep if she doesn't, and then if she does come home, I will stay up and force her to dish on what happened."

"Alright then," said Sookie, "I better get him home. He might break his ear drums if he shoves those fingers of his any further into them." She laughed, as did Lorelai.

"Alright," said Lorelai, "I'll see you."

"Yeah," said Sookie, "see you." Then she turned to Jackson, and dragging him away from Lorelai, said, "C'mon Jackson, we're done talking about our checking out jail bait. Let's go home."

"LA LA LA LA NOT LISTENING LA LA LA LA-------what's that about being done about jail bait?"

Sookie shook her head and just drug him down the street towards home. Lorelai laughed as she watched the two and then turned and found herself running into someone. "Oh god, I'm sorry."

"Its okay," said the guy, and he turned around and it turned out to be Keith Scott, "oh. Hey Lorelai. How was the game?"

"Hey Keith," she greeted, "it was good. Lucas won, of course. Didn't you get to see it for yourself though?"

"Nah," said Keith, "I had to help that stupid Booster club at Chilton. Bunch of biddy's from the P.T.S.A talking about hosting fund-raises and everything."

Lorelai bleched and said, "I'm sorry. Those Booster Mom's are scary."

"Well, aren't you apart of the Booster club too?"

"Not by choice," said Lorela, smiling falsely.

"You should come to the meetings," said Keith, "I've got two more rounds to do as helper and it would make it a heck of a whole lot easier having someone whose brain isn't all Martha Stewarty all the time and who I can have a half way decent conversation with."

"Half way?" said Lorelai. "Excuse me, but I think I can give you a FULL WAY conversation that will be more then just decent."

Keith laughed. "You know what I mean," he said.

"So," said Lorelai, "you want to go for a walk? I was just going to go get some coffee from Luke's Diner and then head home."

"Sure," said Keith, "a walk sounds good."

The two of them left the Stars Hollow High grounds, walking together. As they walked down the right side of the sidewalk, Lorelai noticed Rory and Lucas walking hand in hand together and smiled. Keith noticed, and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

"Look," she said and pointed to the two teenagers.

"Ah," said Keith, looking at Rory and Lucas and smiling as well, "young love."

"Young love indeed," said Lorelai, "they are just both completely oblivious. I don't think anything is going to happen between them just yet though. Neither of them are ready."

"Yeah," said Keith, "Lucas had some bad relationships last year."

"So I heard," said Lorelai, "that kid likes it complicated when it comes to love."

"Yep," said Keith, "but his Mother's the same way."

"As am I," said Lorelai.

Keith looked at her curiously. "Complicated in love, are you?"

"Oh, me and my big fat mouth," said Lorelai.

"Sorry, I was just inquiring."

"No problem," said Lorelai, "it's just my love life really is complicated and I have no desire what so ever to go into it."

"I won't ask, then," said Keith.

"Thank you," said Lorelai.

At this point, the two of them had reached Luke's Diner. It was crowded with people who had just come from the game. As soon as they went in, Babett called them, "Lorelai, over here doll! And bring that big hunk of man meat with you."

Lorelai chuckled, "I think she means you," she whispered to Keith.

"Nah," said Keith, smiling, "I'm no big hunk of man meat."

"Well," said Lorelai, "it must be the invisible Keith to my left that she's talking about then."

"Must be," said Keith.

The two smiled at one another and then walked over to the table where Babett and Morey were. "Hey Babett," said Lorelai, "you know Keith?"

"Of course, fixed my gutters last week," she said.

"Keeping it cool there, Scott?" said Morey.

"As cool as it can be, Morey," Keith answered.

"Good to here," Morey replied.

"Well, I'll tell you, that was some game your nephew played," commented Babett, "dribbling down the court, faster then a blink of an eye. I swear, I didn't know where he was going. I nearly had a heart attack when that ball almost didn't go in."

"Good game, then?" said Keith.

"Amazing!" Babett exclaimed. "And not just the game either, the view wasn't too bad itself."

"Babett, that ain't smooth," said Morey.

"Sorry honey, I was only saying!" she said.

"Well, I agree with you Babett," said Lorelai.

"See, it ain't just me Morey," said Babett, "even Lorelai agrees and you know she's picky."

"I'm not-----"

"Sorry doll, did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah, you did," said Lorelai.

"Ooops," said Babett.

"Okay," said Keith, "this is too much for my ears. I'd rather not hear you talking about my nephew in ah...that way. I'm going to go get some coffee, you want some Lorelai?"

"Please and thank you with a cherry on top," said Lorelai smiling.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Keith.

Babett watched him go up to the counter with Lorelai. "He's a dish, too," commented Babett, "good looks must run in that family, I'm telling you."

Lorelai chuckled. "I agree, Babett, I agree," she said.

"Did you see Lucas and Rory walking down the sidewalk earlier? Holdin' hands too! Ah, they'll make such a cute couple. And they're kids, they'll be gorgeous!" Babett exclaimed.

"Yes, I saw them walking and holding hands," said Lorelai, "did anything else happen after that?"

"Not from what I could see," said Babett, "he made her laugh, she made him laugh, and they talked. They both went back and forth, just like the two of them had known each other their whole lives. I tell you, they'll make the cutest couple. Better then that Dean, I swear."

"Anyone would be better for Rory then Dean," said Lorelai.

"Agreed," said Babett.

"Okay," said Keith who had just walked back with the coffee, "can we go now, please? Because Luke is glaring at me and I think I'm going to die in a few minutes if we don't get away from that glare. He is really freaking me out."

Lorelai chuckled. "Sure we can," said Lorelai, "I'll see you later Babett."

"See ya, sweets," she said.

"Keep it cool, Lorelai," Morey said after.

They waved at the two and then left the diner. "So," said Lorelai, "Luke was glaring at you, huh?"

"Like I was the devil," said Keith.

"He's probably just cursing you for buying me coffee," said Lorelai, "he doesn't like that I drink the stuff, and think's its unhealthy."

"I don't think so," said Keith.

"Well, then, he could have just been upset then," said Lorelai, "too many people in his diner upset him."

"Not a people person, eh?"

"Not in the slightest."

Lorelai smiled and took a drink of her coffee. "Ah," she said, "stuff from the gods."

"You really like that stuff, don't you?"

"Like would be putting it mildly, my friend," said Lorelai, "I _love _it."

"Nothing like a coffee addict."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorelai asked, sounding offended.

"Nothing," said Keith, "just felt like saying it."

"In that case you are forgiven for the insult that wasn't there."

"I won't ask."

"Good, 'cause I can't explain it."

There was a moment of silence and Keith and Lorelai just stood there staring at each other. Neither one of them was sure why there was this sudden silence but it had just come. They both stared at their feet for a moment, and then they stared at each other.

Suddenly, as though a magnetic force was pulling them, they leaned in. Both tried to pull back, but neither one of them could. They kissed, and their tongues danced with one another. It could only be described as a waltz. Then, after a few minutes of dancing with each others mouths, they pulled apart and stared at each other.

No one was certain what to do.

It was awkward.

It was weird.

It was strange.

They just sat there, staring at each other, both of them looking as though they were deers caught in the headlights. There was a very long pause. Then both of them simply turned, and in opposite directions, headed home. Well, Lorelai at least did. Keith himself headed to the bar in desperate need of a drink from the pure shock of the situation.

Meanwhile, shortly after Rory had seen Keith and Lorelai walking together, Lucas and her were still walking down the street, holding hands. "Oh god," said Rory, "what a night, huh?"

"A great night, I'd say," said Lucas, "let me tell you, there was nothing like kicking Duche Bags butt."

Rory laughed. "Duche bag?"

"Well, that's what Dean IS," Lucas said pointedly.

"I thought he was The Floppy Haired Jerk."

"He's both," said Lucas, "in one."

"Agreed," said Rory, "don't forget an ass wipe, as Nathan called him."

Lucas laughed. "And he's that too."

Just then, Babett and Morey walked up to them. "Hey Babett," Rory greeted her.

"Hey there honey," said Babett, "nice to see ya. Lucas, great game boy. Wasn't it a great game Morey?"

"Great game," Morey agreed, "smooth. You were very smooth."

Lucas smiled, "Well, thanks Morey. Thanks Babett."

"Oh, you're welcome sweet heart," said Babett, "it's good to have a guy who can help fight that Dean kid. I never liked him. Thanks for helping out our Rory."

"Ah, well, naturally I would," said Lucas, "she's my Rory too."

"Aw, stop it Lucas," she said, jokingly, "you're making me blush."

"SURE I am," said Lucas, "you know you love the attention."

"Oh, you're reading me like a book," said Rory.

"That's only because you're so open," pointed out Lucas.

Babett chuckled. "Oh you two," she said, "so cute! Did you hear him Morey? _His _Rory. Oh it sounds so perfect. Such a perfect couple!"

"Couple? Uh, we're not—"

"Oh don't you worry about me telling anyone sweet stuff, Lucas," said Babett, "you're secrets safe with me."

"But there-------"

"See ya later. We're going to Luke's. The other Luke's, I mean," said Babett, and she added, "c'mon Morey, let's go."

"Keep it cool, Lucas, Rory," Morey said as Babett dragged him along to Luke's Diner.

"Uh," said Lucas, "keep it cool too Morey."

"Okay," said Rory, "that was weird."

"Just a little," said Lucas.

"We don't look like a couple," said Rory, "do we look like a couple?"

"I didn't think that we looked like a couple," said Lucas, "I mean, I wasn't aware we were acting couply."

"I didn't think we were, either," said Rory.

"Maybe it's the hand holding. The hand holding could be sending out wrong signals to people," said Lucas, "do you think it's the hand holding that could be sending out couple signals?"

"It might be," said Rory, "maybe we should stop."

"What?"

"Stop the hand holding," said Rory.

"Oh," said Lucas, "right." The two let go of each other's hands and looked at each other awkwardly.

"Um," Rory started to say something, "so..."

"So..."

A car that was waiting at the stop light had it's window's rolled down and you could hear the radio from it. The song "Kiss me" by Sixpence None the Richer was playing. "Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight..."

"I like this song," said Rory.

"I never did," said Lucas, "it was too Chicky for me."

"It's not chicky!" Rory exclaimed, indignant.

"Rory," he said, "listen to the lyrics. The song is very chicky."

"How about we agree to disagree?" Rory offered.

"Sounds good," said Lucas, smiling.

The car was still there, waiting for the light to change colors, and the song was still playing. "Long light," Rory commented after a few minutes of silence. "Very long," Lucas nodded in agreement.

The car still sat there, the music playing. "I wish the driver would role up his or her windows," said Lucas, "I really don't like that song."

"It's loud," said Rory, "too loud. The music is interrupting the pleasant silence."

"But you like that song."

"But it doesn't mean that I want to listen to it when I would rather it be silent."

The lyrics echoed through the night air, as though the song were playing on purpose and not just by coincidence. The air, a little cold, suddenly became a little warmer. Rory and Lucas both stood there, looking at each other. For one odd moment, it seemed as they were both moving in for a kiss, but then, as soon as the car had come, it left, taking the song with it, and ruining the moment.

"Um," said Lucas, "we should most likely go home now. You're Mom will be getting worried."

"Yeah," said Rory, still feeling a bit awkward, and wondering if Lucas was too, "we should defiantly get going."

"Yeah," said Lucas, still feeling awkward as well. The two of them walked home together rather quickly, the both of them in silence, and not saying a word to one another. When they got to their street, they muttered something of a good bye and then both headed directly to their houses, both of them walking quickly.

Once Lucas had gone inside his, Rory broke into a run as she crossed the street and walked to her house. She had never been more glad to see her Mother, who was walking to the house from the left side of the street. "Oh my god," Lorelai exclaimed, "thank god you're here."

"No, thank god you're here!" Rory countered. "I've got something to tell you!" they both burst out in the same time.

"You go first," said Lorelai.

"No, you go," said Rory.

"I had to go through hours of labor with you," said Lorelai.

"Ugh, you had to bring that up, didn't you?"

"It works every time," said Lorelai, "now, what do you have to tell me?"

"Um..."

"Um?" she said. "That's it?"

"No, that is not it," said Rory, her face getting flushed now, "well, what I was going to say is that...that...Lucas and I almost-----"

"Almost what Rory?" Lorelai asked, a worried and slightly panicked expression on her face. Rory didn't know why but it was there. "C'mon kid, give me more to go on. You're kind of freaking me out here."

"We almost kissed!"

"You almost what?" Lorelai called.

"We almost kissed! We were walking and there was a car waiting for the stop light to change with it's windows rolled down and it was playing the Kiss Me song and we talked about how I like it and how he hates it and then there was a------"

"Urrrgghhhhhh," a moaning sound coming from the porch made them both jump. The two looked at each other, eyes wide with shock.

"Oh my god," said Rory.

"Oh my god," said Lorelai.

"Oh my god," Rory repeated.

"Stop with the oh my gods," said Lorelai.

"You started----"

"No I didn't, you did, so don't even go there," said Lorelai.

"Right," said Rory, "sorry. I'm just panicking. Should we go see whose sprawled out on our porch?"

"Yeah," said Lorelai, "that might be a good idea. But you're going first."

"What? I'm the youngest, I'm you're only offspring," said Rory.

"Well, I've got less life left then you, go on," said Lorelai, "go check and see who it is."

"You are soooo going to get eternal damnation for this," said Rory, "ask Mrs. Kim. I bet she'd say the same thing."

"Well, Mrs. Kim also can plan arranged marriages, would you like that honey?" Lorelai jokingly threatened.

"Not funny," said Rory and she sighed and reluctantly started up walking up on the stairs of the porch. "You know, I feel like one of those stupid teenagers in a horror movie."

"Well, we are those stupid teenagers in a horror movie at this point," said Lorelai, "keep on going."

The two got on the porch and found that the person sprawled face first out onto their porch was a guy with messy blonde hair. "Oh my-------" Rory started to say but Lorelai interrupted her.

"There had better not be a god at the end of that sentence."

"Gosh," Rory finished her sentence.

"Well, well, well," said Lorelai, "ain't this the story of the year?"

To be continued

**A/N: Wow. I'm in shock. At chapter ten of this story, I had nearly as many reviews as when I finished Something in the way. I'm amazed that this story is doing better then this one, and I'm actually excited. Although maybe I shouldn't be so surprised because I've got BOTH oth and gg fans reading this. Still, you guys rock for all the reviews. Thanks to the fifty six people who put this story on their favorite stories list. That makes me feel so special. And to the three c2 list managers who have put this story up there. **

**Shygirly4eva: Keith and Lorelai aren't planning anything. Glad you liked the chapter. The Dawson and Joey thing I thought was cute too because blonde guys are always giving Rory nicknames and she's always giving them nicknames...so... **

**Lorelailovescoffee: How did the tennis thing go? Yeah, I've heard of Wimbeldon but only because of the movie with Kirsten Dunst and Jude Law (which I haven't seen but WANT too). I'm glad you liked it. Thanks Edie. **

**HadLeeMay: Thanks but I truly think I sucked at describing the basketball scene. But it's good at least one person doesn't think so. **

**Beedazzlnplaid: Yeah yeah, I know. No need to rub it in about my lack of basketball expertise. Lol. Thanks for the review. **

**Lifeinshreds **

**Cupid's Bride: Thanks. Glad you liked it. Once again, please see a/n above. Thanks for pointing out mistakes though. It helps and I try to keep them in mind so I don't have that next time. Joey and Pacey all the way, naturally. But Lucas is blond...so. And it's oth/gg crossover so it will be Rory and Lucas. But uh...look for a surprise mixed in. ;) (wink) **

**Potostfbeyeluvr: Thank you so much. That's the biggest compliment ever, especially from someone who has never watched the show. :) Thanks so very, very, much. **

**Elizabethintheblue **

**Live4Jess13**

**Etb4670: Yes, they do get together. After a while though. **

**Love23: Aw. Glad you liked that. Yeah, I liked Pacey too, but y'know, Lucas is blond, so I just used Dawson. I am glad you liked the Shirts vs. skins thing. I got the idea from a dream my friend Megan had. She dreamed that Chad came to our school to play basketball, asked her to play, and he was skins, and when he took his shirt off, she went, in the dream, "I guess you're skins..." so it's all thanks to her that I thought up that scene. :) **

**Solodancer: Yeah. I meant Nathan. What I was talking about in Smallville was BEFORE Lana was possessed and she did that swing kick on Jason's Mom. Awesome. The girl can fight when she has to. I did see the china episode. Actually, I watched the entire season. Thanks for the review. What would you say to me writing some Smallville fanfics? I'm thinking about doing that but I'm in the Gilmore Girls area and I don't know if anyone would read them. **

**KarahBella **

**Sexyheather16**

**Chadsgirl16 **

**Mrs. Rhett Butler **

**fairieangel **

**curlyk03: Thanks for congratulating me on my book. Yes, its getting published. I don't know when. Mom and I are working on it, but we've got the contract and stuff. It might be sometime within six months but it might be longer because we have to work out some things with the publisher. Glad you like the Luke thing. Thanks for the review. :) **

**Lolitaro fan j.r.a**

**Ghetonerd: Agreed. Dean sucks butt. I liked that line too and it seems a lot of other people did as well. :) **

**Fallen Heart: Thanks Camilla: I agree, Alexis and Milo have really good chemistry. I got gg season 3 on dvd and I LOVE Rory and Jess together. They're awesome. Yeah, I knew you were a lit fan. I saw the Rory and Jess stuff on your website. I think it was a video, but it might have been fanfiction. Either way, I saw something about Rory and Jess on your site. They are a cute couple. Much better then Rory and Dean. Anyone that she can argue with is fun. **

**Othlover04 **

**mar0506: The plot is thickening, that's all I can say. **

**Katydid7186: Thank you. You rock so much. That's such a cool thing for you to say. **

**Druzilla: lol. Thanks. Adam rocks my socks now. He reminds me of Mouth on oth a little bit and Mouth's cool too. So Adam's okay in my book because of the GG thing. Plus he was in Mr. And Mrs. Smith so that's a plus too. **

**Beautifulbutterfly **

**kylie1403: Yeah, I meant Nathan. **

**Sum41rocks: You met Sum41 and Story of the year? Omg. That's so flippin' cool. Sadly I don't have msn messenger but you could e-mail me. My e-mail is on my bio. I LOVED the friends reference too, which is why I put it up there and I figured I'd spell the disney thing wrong. It's too hard to spell. Lol. **

**Poetic Angelica: Ah, dirty girl! I'm keeping it pg here. Lol. No, they're not sleeping together as is answered in this chapter. **

**Jmarit17: Nah, True Love was not a coincidence. I put it there on purpose. I remembered the true love thing and remembered the operation save true love website that was up for Joey and Pacey. I heart Pacey and Joey. They are the cutest couple on earth. Am glad you liked it. **

**Thank you. You guys all rock. Seriously. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	12. The Headliner

Chapter twelve

"The Headliner"

"Oh how sweet," Rory jokingly cooed, "he showed up on our porch because he's in love with you."

"Not funny," said Lorelai, "he's eighteen."

"We should get him inside," said Rory.

"Why? Can't we just leave him to freeze to death out here? I mean, he most likely can't feel anything, being drunk," said Lorelai, "I mean, it's not as if people will think it's strange that there's a guy on our porch. We have _Kirk _living in our town."

"We have to take Zack inside because Lane would kill you if she lost her lead singer," said Rory, "not to mention that it would be wrong to leave him out here."

"It's his own fault," said Lorelai, "I mean, he was the one who got drunk. He was the one who showed up on our porch."

"It's actually your fault," said Rory, "because he's got a crush on you."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" said Lorelai.

"Every sick twisted little minute of it," Rory answered with a smirk on her face, and then jokingly she said, "Maybe we should invite him to movie night. You know, like you did with Dean when we first started liking each other."

"Funny, funny, girl," said Lorelai with sarcasm.

"So," said Rory, "let's pick him up, get him inside, and call Dave so that he can come and get him."

"If we must," said Lorelai with reluctance.

"Yes, we must," said Rory, "what would Shakespeare think if we were to leave a poor young lover out on the porch?"

"There's another play where all the characters die and nobody gets their way that will become a classic?" Lorelai offered.

"Funny," said Rory, "pick him up."

"I get the arms," said Lorelai instantly.

"Wait," said Rory, "why do you get the arms? I want the arms. I don't want to pick up those legs. You don't know where they've been. He could have puked on them earlier. He is _really _drunk."

"Honey," said Lorelai, "do you know how many perverted things that kid will come up with if I pick him up by the legs?"

"Like it will be any less weird for me," said Rory pointedly, "besides, I had to go up the porch first. I think that it's only fair that you get to pick him up by the legs and I get the arms."

"I went through Labor with you," said Lorelai, trying to pull that card again.

"You already used that excuse," Rory said.

"I'm a Mother," said Lorelai, "I can always use that excuse. It's my right."

"Well," said Rory, "you're not using it this time. Pick up the legs, and I get the arms."

"Cruel, cruel, evil child," said Lorelai, glaring at her daughter, and then going to pick up Zack's legs. Rory meanwhile went to the other side and picked up Zack's arms.

"My loneliness is killing me now….don't you know I still believe……that you will be here….and give me a sign! Hit me baby one more time!" Zack slurred as he sang the Britney Spears song in his drunken sleep.

Rory snickered as they made their way through the living room with him. Lorelai just glared at her daughter and said, "Keep on going missy."

"I'm sorry," she said, "it's just so funny."

"It's _not _funny," said Lorelai.

"If I were in the same position as you right now, you would think that it was funny," said Rory.

"Yes," said Lorelai, "but you're not in this position. I am. Me, a thirty-something year-old woman with an eighteen year-old who has a crush on her, and it's by no means funny."

Rory just shook her head and they finally reached the couch. "Okay," she said, "on the count of three, we drop him on the couch, _easily _Mom."

"Fine," said Lorelai, reluctance in her voice.

"One," Rory started counting, "two, three."

On the final count, they both dropped Zack on the couch. Lorelai glared at the kid. "He is evil in its true form," she said.

"Oh come on," Rory said, "You know you're only saying that because you're in denial."

"So I guess that means you were in denial about Bible Boy after all, huh?" Lorelai shot back.

"Okay, that's not fair," said Rory, "I'm supposed to be teasing you, and you're not supposed to be teasing me."

"Well, that's payback," said Lorelai, "go call Dave so we can get the drunken idiot out of here."

"Oh, and she wants to be left alone with him too," said Rory, jokingly, "how sweet."

"Telephone, now," said Lorelai, glaring irritably at her daughter.

Rory just grinned and said, "I'll leave you two alone." Then she went to the telephone and dialed Dave's number.

"Hello?" came Dave's voice.

"Hey Dave," she said, "It's Rory. Listen, Zack showed up on our porch drunk, and we we're wondering if you could come and pick him up."

"Oh thank god," said Dave, "you've got him. Okay, good. I'll be there in a few. We were at a party, he was drunk, and we left him alone for _one _minute and then he just---"

"Dave," said Rory, "you're hysterical."

"Right," said Dave, "sorry about that. I'll be there in a few Rory. Thanks for calling me and letting me know."

"You're welcome," said Rory, "I think that if I didn't, Mom would have just let him freeze outside the porch."

"I won't even ask," said Dave, "I'll see you in a few."

"Okay," said Rory, "bye Dave."

"Bye Rory."

Rory hung up the phone and then went back into the living room where her Mom was with Zack. "So, what'd he say?" Lorelai asked.

"He'll come," said Rory, "they apparently were at a party and Zack got drunk and they didn't watch him for a minute and then he just _left_."

"I don't even want to know how he got here," said Lorelai.

"He most likely walked," said Rory, "all because he's in love with you. Isn't that sweet?"

"Do you want me to bring up Donna Reed night?"

"No," Rory said quickly.

"I thought so," said Lorelai, "so I'd shut it if I were you."

There was a moment of silence and then Lorelai said, "So, what were you trying to tell me before we noticed Lover Boy over here?"

"Oh," said Rory, "it was nothing."

"Nothing?" said Lorelai. "You were freaking out over it."

"I know," said Rory, "but it's no big deal."

"You don't freak out over something unless it's a very, very, big deal," said Lorelai.

Rory sighed. "Lucas and I almost kissed," she said.

"_What_?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Lucas and I almost kissed," said Rory, "we were walking to go get Pie and Coffee and there was this car at the stop light and it had its windows rolled down and the driver was playing the 'Kiss me' song and he leaned in, and I leaned in, and then we nearly kissed."

"Wow," said Lorelai, "that's big."

"I know," said Rory.

"You're hormones are telling you something," said Lorelai.

"I know," said Rory, "I'm just….you know, not ready for myself to be told _that_. I mean, I just broke up with Dean. Not to mention Lucas isn't ready for a relationship anyway, from his history. I mean, he came to Stars Hollow to get away from a bad relationship."

"I know," said Lorelai, "but whose to say that if you to got together it would end up being a bad relationship?"

"Because we nicknamed ourselves Dawson and Joey?" Rory offered.

"I still say it should have been Pacey and Joey," said Lorelai.

"Exactly," said Rory, "but we nicknamed ourselves Dawson and Joey. That proves that if we were to get into a relationship it would only be messy."

"Nicknames don't mean a thing, Ror," said Lorelai, "they're just nicknames."

"I know…." said Rory. "Even so, I'm not ready, he's not ready. Not to mention that a relationship would ruin our friendship and I don't want that. I mean, we've only been friends for how long?"

"A few weeks," said Lorelai.

"Besides," said Rory, "he'll forget it and I'll forget it in a few days time and then it would be like nothing ever happened."

"Okay," said Lorelai, "if you're sure."

"So," said Rory after a moments pause, "what did you want to tell me earlier?"

"Nothing," said Lorelai, "it's just nothing. It was something stupid."

"Mom," said Rory," I couldn't pull that card with you, what makes you think that you can pull that card with me?"

"Fine," said Lorelai, "I'll tell you."

There was a moment of silence and then Rory said, "You can tell me now."

Lorelai sighed. "I kissed Keith."

"You what?" Rory exclaimed.

"I kissed Keith," said Lorelai, "there was a moment when we were walking, and we just kissed. I don't know why, but it just happened."

"Mom," said Rory, "you can't date Keith. Do you know how weird that would be? I mean, that would make Lucas and I cousins."

"I know," said Lorelai, "don't worry. I'm not going to date Keith. I'm not even ready to date anyone. I mean, after the whole Max thing, I just am not ready."

"Good," said Rory, "so we've established that there shall be no dating of my friend's relatives?"

"Yes," said Lorelai, "we have."

Just then, Zack snorted in his sleep, and muttered, "Lorelai……"

Rory couldn't help but laugh, causing her Mother to glare at her. "Sorry," she said simply.

The next day was Thursday. Lucas drove Rory to school as usual. They sat in awkward silence the whole way there. You could tell that they were both feeling strange and that both of them were nervous.

At every stoplight, Lucas would tap his fingers on the steering wheel. Every five minutes, Rory would fidget in her seat. Finally, they arrived in the Chilton parking lot.

"So….." Lucas started to say but then he trailed off.

"So…." Rory started as well, but she trailed off too.

"I wanted to talk to you about last night!" they both blurted out suddenly. The two of them laughed and there was no more awkward silence.

"Look," said Rory, "we were both just caught up in the moment."

"Agreed," said Lucas, "and you just got out of a relationship with Dean."

"And you came to Stars Hollow to get away from Tree Hill from all of your messy relationships," said Rory.

"And we just started out being friends," said Lucas.

"Yeah," said Rory, "we did just start out being friends. So, can we just pretend like nothing happened?"

"Yes," said Lucas, "we can."

They both got out of the truck, and then were both silent once again as they walked up to the building. Smiling, Rory remembered what had happened last night with The Porch Incident.

"What are you so happy about?" Lucas asked, noting the smile on Rory's face.

"Zack showed up on our porch last night and sang to Mom," Rory answered.

Lucas laughed. "Are you serious?" he said.

"Dead serious," said Rory.

"What'd he sing?" Lucas asked.

"Baby one more time," said Rory.

"Oh my god," said Lucas, "you had better not tell Lane. She'll be mortified and the name of her band will be ruined."

"I know," said Rory, "I don't plan on telling her. Mom would kill me anyways."

"That's the funniest thing I've ever heard," said Lucas.

"I know," said Rory.

The day continued on as normal, things back to the way they were. The almost kiss was never mentioned by either of them again. But deep down, both of them were thinking about it. They just chose not to talk about it.

Later, during the meeting for The Franklin, Rory sat, minding her own business, working on an article when she heard something that disturbed her. "That's right," she heard Madeline, who was talking to Louise and Paris over at another desk, say, "I heard that he's coming back. But it's only for a short period of time though."

"Wow," said Louise, "this will make things interesting. I wonder what he'll think of his evil twin?"

"Oh please," said Paris, "as if Tristin will even notice his clone. When he's back, he'll be too busy trying to get his Mary."

Rory froze at that. Tristin Dugrey, coming back? No, that couldn't be. God, he could not be coming back. She tried not to think about it and went back to her work but every attempt she tried to concentrate, she couldn't.

The very thought of Tristin Dugrey coming back irritated her to no end. She had to find out for herself if she had heard right. Walking over to the three girls, she said, "Hey. What are you three all so busy talking about?"

"Oh, we were just talking about how Tri---" Madeline started to say but Paris cut her off instantly.

"What's it matter to you, Gilmore? Besides, shouldn't you be working and not listening in on our conversations?" Paris said.

"I wasn't listening in on your conversation," Rory lied, "I just wanted to make casual conversation, so I just asked what you guys were talking about. There's no reason to jump down my throat about it."

"God Paris," said Louise, "just calm down already. As Madeline was going to say before Paris interrupted her, we were talking about how T---"

"Louise," Paris interjected, "don't you have to go and work on the music section? I'm certain there's at least two percent of the people in this school who haven't heard that Nsynce's coming out with a new album and are just dying to know. "

Louise glared at her friend and leaned down and whispered to Paris, whispering, "You know, I wouldn't act so jealous if I were you. I mean, Jamie might get suspicious about your true feelings for him."

"Bite me, Grant," Paris said irritably to her, and then looking at Madeline and Rory, "go off you two. You've both got work to do."

Rory and Madeline both gave surprised looks at Paris and then turned and started going back to their desks. "What crawled up her butt?" Rory asked.

"Oh, you know Paris," Madeline answered, "always on PMS twenty four seven, no matter what time of the month."

"Right," said Rory and she went back to her computer. She was still a little uneasy about what the girls had been talking about. What if Tristin was really coming back? Things had just gotten good for her. She didn't want them to get screwed up again. Lord knows that things would go horribly awry if he showed up.

God, she thought, please, please, please, don't let him be coming back.

Rory walked into the gym after the newspaper meeting and found Lucas just shooting hoops. This was where they had taken to meeting whenever she had a newspaper or student council meeting.

"Hey," she said as she walked in.

"Hey," said Lucas as he made a shot. He noted the somewhat worried look on her face. "Are you okay there?"

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Rory," said Lucas, "you and you're Mother are both horrible liars. Now tell me, what's wrong?"

Rory sighed. She sat down on one of the bleachers and Lucas walked over to her and sat down on the spot next to her. She rummaged through her back pack and took out a Chilton year book from sophomore year. Then she flipped through the pages to the sophomore's names who started with a D and found the picture of Tristin. She showed it to Lucas.

"This," she said, "is the bane of my existence. Tristin Dugrey."

"Wow," said Lucas looking at it in shock, "it's me with hair."

"I know," said Rory, "the resemblance is uncanny, isn't it?"

"Yeah," said Lucas, "dude that's just plain scary. But why are you showing this to me now?"

"I heard Paris, Madeline, and Louise talking about him," said Rory, "I think they were talking about him coming back, but I'm not sure. I tried to find out about it, and no one would tell me anything."

"Well," said Lucas, "that'd be a little weird."

"I know," said Rory, "it would be more then a little weird though. It would be a lot weird."

"So," said Lucas, "did he sign your yearbook?"

"Unfortunately so," said Rory, "but this is just one that I got from the library. I just wanted to show you that picture."

"What'd he sign in it?"

"Hey Mary, you know you love me. Give in. Signed, Tristin Dugrey," she quoted what Tristin had signed in the year book.

"Man," said Lucas, shaking his head, "he sounds like Nathan before Haley got to him."

"Well," said Rory, "it's too bad Haley didn't get to Tristin. Then maybe he wouldn't have annoyed me, and I would have made it through sophomore year with at least some sanity."

"Ah," said Lucas, "but if that happened, then I'd still be going insane with Nathan annoying the crud out of me."

"Huh," said Rory, "true. You know, I once tried getting him to date Paris."

"Him and Paris?" said Lucas. "That had to have been an entertaining sight."

"Well, they would have been cute together, had he not been stupid and told her that he liked somebody else," said Rory, "namely his ex-girlfriend, Summer."

Lucas chuckled. "I highly doubt that it was his ex-girlfriend that he still liked," said Lucas.

Rory raised an eyebrow. "And just who do you think it was that he liked?"

"Judging from what he signed in your yearbook?" said Lucas, smirking. "I'd say it was you."

"You're just a regular comedian," said Rory with sarcasm, "really, you should take your act out on the road."

Lucas just laughed. "C'mon," he said, "let's go."

"Okay," said Rory, "but I've got to return this to the library eventually."

"We'll return it on the way to the truck," said Lucas.

He then grabbed his backpack and the two of them exited the gym, dropped the yearbook that Rory had gotten from the library off, and then they left and headed to Stars Hollow.

Friday night came too quick for Rory. It was the first time that she hadn't wanted to go to Friday night dinner. In fact, Rory had wanted to go and hang out with Lucas. However, she knew that there was no getting out of Friday night dinners.

"Ugh," she said as she and her Mother got out of the car, "I really don't want to be here. I just want to hang out with Lane, Lucas, Nathan and Haley."

"Wow," said Lorelai, "I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth."

"What that I wanted to hang out with Lane, Lucas, Nathan and Haley?"

"No," said Lorelai, "that you didn't want to be at Friday night dinner."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," said Rory.

"I'm so proud," said Lorelai jokingly and the two walked up to the door. Lorelai rang the doorbell and Rory groaned as she did. "Oh, come on. Cheer up soldier," Lorelai said, chuckling.

Rory just glared at her Mother. The door opened and Rory put on a smile as it was her Grandmother who'd opened it and she didn't want questions as to why she had the not so pleasant look on her face.

"Lorelai, Rory, come in," Emily Gilmore said happily.

"Hi Mom," Lorelai greeted.

"Hi Grandma," said Rory as Emily drew her into a hug.

"So," said Emily, as she lead them into the living room, "how have you girls been?"

"We've been good Mom," said Lorelai to her Mother.

"We'll that's good," said Emily as they sat down, and she called, "Richard, the girls are here."

"I'll be down in a minute!" Came Richard's voice from upstairs.

"Don't be too long!" Emily called.

"I won't," Richard called back down.

"So," said Emily, "what's been going on with you girls?"

"Nothing," they both said quickly neither one of them feeling the need to go over the weeks events to Emily.

"Nothing?" said Emily, raising her eyebrow, "are you certain?"

"Nothing at all, Mom," said Lorelai, "it's been very, very, dull this last week."

"Well," said Emily, "there must be something you would like to tell me. Rory is there anything that you would like to tell me?"

Rory looked at her Mother accusingly. "What?" said Lorelai. "Don't look at me like that. I haven't talked to her all week. I have told her nothing."

"Right," said Rory, and then turning to Emily, she said, "well, Grandma, something did happen. A little while ago, actually. Dean and I broke up."

"Well," she said, "it's about time you told me. Honestly, I thought I was going to have to wait forever to hear it from you."

"Wait," said Rory, confused, "you knew? How'd you know?"

"It was incredibly obvious," said Emily, "you never talked about him anymore. You looked miserable these past few Friday night dinners. Not to mention that you weren't wearing his bracelet anymore."

"Well, uh----"

"Hey, does anyone here like basketball? I love basketball. It's a wonderful sport," Lorelai interrupted, and Emily looked at her strangely.

"Why are you talking about basketball?" she said. "You despise all sports."

"Not basketball," said Lorelai.

"And why this sudden interest in basketball?"

"Well, uh, er----"

Rory was looking at her Mother like she was a mad woman, and mouthed, "What are you doing?" to her but she just looked confused and didn't say anything after a moments silence.

Then suddenly Lorelai blurted out, "Rory has a new friend named Lucas who plays basketball and he's really good at it and he moved from Tree Hill, North Carolina, and and and…..he beat Dean recently at a basketball game!"

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed.

"What's this about your new friend beating Dean at a basketball game?" said Emily.

Rory felt very awkward and so she explained slowly, "Well Grandma, I've got a new friend, whose a guy. He moved from Tree Hill, North Carolina, to Stars Hollow just recently and his uncle Keith is the new shop teacher at Chilton. We go to school together. His names Lucas Scott."

"That's nice," said Emily, "now what's this about your friend playing a basketball game against Dean?"

Rory shot her Mom a look. "You did this to get back at me for the porch thing, didn't you?" she said.

Lorelai just smiled evily. "Tell Grandma about the basketball game, okay honey? I'm going to get some more ice." She went off to do just that, leaving Rory and Emily sitting in the room alone together.

Rory sighed and told her Grandmother about the basketball game between Lucas and Dean and why it all happened. "Well," said Emily, "it was very nice of that young man to do that for you. You must invite him to the next Friday night dinner."

"But I—"

"No buts, Rory," said Emily, "I simply must meet this young man. He sounds simply charming."

Rory sighed. At this point, Lorelai had come back and she was grinning evily at her daughter. Rory shot her Mother a glare.

Richard, who had been upstairs up until this point, finally came down, and said, "Sorry about that. Now what did I miss?"

"Rory was just telling about her new little friend who helped her out with something," said Emily, "he's coming over for dinner next week."

"Oh, well, that'll be nice," said Richard.

Lorelai was laughing and Rory just glared at her and stuck her tongue out at her Mother. "Well," said Lorelai when they left, "next weeks dinner should be interesting."

"Oh yeah," said Rory with sarcasm, "a regular trip to Disney Land."

When in the car, Rory called Lucas on her cell phone. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Lucas," she said.

"Hey," said Lucas, "how was dinner with the grandparents?"

"Oh," Rory said, "it was good."

"So," said Lucas, "what'd you call for?"

"Okay," said Rory, "we're really good friends, right?"

"Yes," said Lucas, "I don't see what that has to do with anything though."

"Well," she said, "Mom kind of spilled the beans about you to the grandparents and now….they want you to come to Friday night dinner."

"Oh man," said Lucas, "you've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I were," said Rory, "but come on Lucas, it won't be that bad. I mean, you can bring Nathan and Haley if you like and then I'll bring Lane and the heat won't be on you so much. They'll focus on everyone."

Lucas sighed, "Fine Rory. I'll go. But you owe me."

"I'm going to be going to a lot of basketball games with you, aren't I?" Rory asked.

"Hell yes," said Lucas.

Rory groaned and then said, "Thanks Lucas. I'll see you later."

"Yeah," he said, "see you later."

She then hung up the phone wondering what on earth next weeks Friday night dinner was going to be like. Things were certainly going to get interesting.

**A/N: Okay, so there's chapter twelve. I'm sorry I took so long to get it up there. Not what you expected, huh? Okay, so Rory and Lucas will stay in Stars Hollow until Christmas, and then for Spring Break, they will go to Tree Hill. The Dance Marathon will occur sometime after the thanksgiving chapter, which will be soon. Nathan, Haley, and Lane will do some meddling in the next chapter. Things are going to get interesting, kiddies. Wow. This story is on like sixty something favorites lists. Thanks you guys. **

**Thanks to: **

**Jmarit17: You're fics really rock, I've just got to say. I can't get enough of them. Thanks for the review. I know, I don't like Dawson either but I figured since Lucas has blonde hair, and she's got brown hair, it just worked. Plus they didn't hate each other in the beginning. **

**Love23: I'm glad that you liked the banter and the nervousness. Thanks for the compliment. Hope you liked this chapter. **

**Kylie1403: lol. I did say in an earlier chapter that Tristin wasn't going to be in the story. I just said that I was going to mention him. No need to freak out. **

**Katydid7186: There will be a kiss soon enough. **

**Bumbyrider: Thanks. **

**Lackinglime123: Thanks I'm glad you liked the chapter. I couldn't figure out who asked me to read their fanfic and now I have so I definitely will read yours. **

**Sum41rocks: Man, that is so cool. Really. I envy you. I am glad you liked the Jackson part. It seemed like something he would do. **

**Poetic Angelica: Sorry it's not Tristin. But I did mention him, so there you go. You got a little bit of him in there. It just wasn't him on the porch. **

**Beautifulbutterfly: Sorry. I was considering making it Tristin, but that just would have been too typical and I didn't want it to be typical. So I made it Zack instead. **

**Blackroguefillie **

**Soloveable: I am glad that you like it. **

**Curlyk03: There will be more, I swear. **

**Sexyheather910x: It wasn't the time yet for the kiss but it will happen eventually. **

**Sea4shoes **

**Newyoricannyc**

**Mar0506: No, I meant to say that. Thanks for the review. **

**Othlover04 **

**Tickle582 **

**Druzilla **

**Shygirly4eva: Thanks. I think one of my reviewers came up with it because I heard it somewhere but I could not find the review for the life of me. **

**Forever cynical: Thanks. I agree. I like the idea of having a soundtrack to your life too. **

**Lkwreader: Thanks. I'm glad you like it. I know, Dan IS an ass. **

**Potostbeyeluver**

**Cupid's Bride: Thanks for the corrections. That helps and sometimes I manage to remember it. I am glad you liked the chapter. **

**Lolitaro fan of j.r.a **

**Msjml: Interesting guesses. ;) Thanks for the review. **

**KarahBella **

**Fallen Heart: I will definitely watch your video. But I have to get onto my own computer first so it will be like a month. Lol. I'm using my StepDad's. **

**GG10291**

**Fairieangel **

**Live4Jess13**

**Readergurl87 **

**Destinymanifested **

**To some of the readers who might be confused, when I wrote ch. 11 I was going to make it be Tristin but then I debated it, so just ignore the "Messy" hair description. But Zack does have blonde hair, so there ya go. The mysterious porch stranger. I remember him liking Lorelai when he first saw her, so I thought it would be funny to make him be the one on the porch. Hope you liked it. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	13. It wasn't the maid, the butler, or God

**Disclaimer: I own neither Gilmore Girls nor One Tree Hill. They are both owned by Warner Bros. **

**Summary: Rory Gilmore meets Lucas Scott. Friendship first, then maybe, something more. Oth crossover. **

**Chapter 13 **

"**It wasn't the maid or the butler or God" **

"I can't believe you convinced me to wear a tie," said Lucas. It was Friday night and the two girls and Lucas had just arrived at the Gilmore's and Lucas was complaining about the tie he had to wear.

"Hey, I just want you to make a good impression," said Rory, "when Dean came, Grandpa and Grandma didn't like him very much, and it all started when he didn't wear a tie. I'm helping you here."

"It's a _tie_," said Lucas, "the last time I wore a tie was when Haley dragged me to a Tree Hill High formal during freshman year because she didn't have a date."

"Didn't she meet Nathan freshman year?" Rory asked.

"No," said Lucas, "she met him sophomore year."

"Oh," said Rory, "right. You're back story is _way_ too complicated."

"I know," said Lucas.

"Okay," said Lorelai, "Lucas, we are at the door now. This is your last chance to back out buddy. We can always just turn around and go back to Stars Hollow now and you will not have to see our scary other life."

Rory rolled her eyes at her Mother. "Mom," she said, "stop, you're making it sound worse then it really is and you're going to scare Lucas."

"I'm already scared," said Lucas, "actually I was scared from the moment you called me paranoid and ordered me to put on the tie."

"How many times do I have to tell you," said Rory, "I only told you to put on the tie because I wanted you to make a good impression. You didn't have to put on the tie, but I suggested it because I wanted you to make a good impression. Go ahead, take off the tie. But I'm pretty certain that Grandpa will think you're another Dean that way and if you want him to start comparing you to Dean, then be my guest."

Lucas thought about this and then answered, "No thanks. I'll keep the tie on."

"Okay kiddies," said Lorelai, "time to open the door. Lucas, if you never want to talk to us again after this evening, then I completely understand. There will be no hard feelings, for you are about to enter the scariest place on earth, the Gilmore's version of Ripley's believe it or not the----"

"Mom," said Rory sternly, giving her a warning look.

L:orelai sighed. "Okay, okay, fine," she said, "I'll be a good girl now." Then, hesitating a little, she eventually rang the doorbell.

"Hello," said a new maid who was standing at the door in the typical grey uniform, "and who are you?"

"Britney Spears," Mom joked. Rory shook her head.

"Excuse her," she said, "we're Rory and Lorelai, and this is my friend Lucas. I'm Richard and Emily's granddaughter and the comedian over there is their daughter and my Mother."

The maid gave them a weird look. "Okay," she said, "come inside. May I take your coat?"

"Yes, please," said Lorelai when they entered and the maid took their coats.

"Emily and Richard are outside waiting for you," she said.

"Thank you," they said and then went outside to where Emily and Richard were seated. "Hey Mom," said Lorelai when they entered.

"Hello, Lorelai, Rory, and you must be----" Emily stopped mid sentence and then looked Lucas up and down. She blinked several times, and then blinked some more. "Oh my god! Richard, look who it is!"

Richard, who had been getting a drink, turned around and looked from Lorelai to Rory to Lucas. When his eyes landed on Lucas, he blinked several times. Then, his eyes widened. "Oh my god!" he exclaimed. "Oh my god!"

"What's he doing back?" said Emily. "Janlen said he wasn't coming back and they made no mention of a visit. Rory, why didn't you tell us Tristin was coming with you? I could have made the house look proper."

"Um," said Lucas, "Mrs. Gilmore, I'm not Tristin."

"Don't be silly," said Emily, "of course you are. You look exactly like him. Who else would you be? The Dhalie Lama?"

"Grandma," said Rory, "he's telling the truth. He's not Tristin. This is Lucas, the friend I was telling you about last Friday, the one who you insisted on inviting to Friday night dinner…..don't you remember?"

"Yes, of course I remember," said Emily, "but it can't be. He looks exactly like……"

"Tristin," Lorelai, Lucas, and Rory chorused.

"Oh god," said Richard, "that's uncanny. It's simply uncanny. The boy looks exactly like him."

"I know," said Lucas, "when I first started Chilton, I kept on getting mistaken for him."

"Well," said Emily, "this is a surprise. Won't Janlen be amused?"

"He'll have a heart attack, most likely, knowing that there's two of them out there," said Richard, "no offense to you of course, Lucas, but the boy who you resemble was _not _a charming young man."

"He wasn't anywhere near it," said Rory, and Emily gave her granddaughter a look.

"Rory, that was rude," said Emily.

"Grandpa just said though that he wasn't, so why can't I say that he wasn't anywhere near it?" said Rory.

"It's one thing to say that a person isn't charming but to say that a person isn't anywhere charming is another," said Emily.

"Sorry Grandma," Rory apologized, not really meaning it.

"Buck up, buddy," Lorelai said, grinning, "tonight's going to be a fun evening."

Lucas snickered a laugh and Rory just glared at him. "Your screw up's coming soon, buster," she whispered to him and that made him get quiet real quick.

Dinner that night was so incredibly long that one can not describe it in words. Emily picked and prodded and damn well nearly dissected every bit of personal information about of Lucas out of him. By the time dinner was done, all three of the group was glad for it to be over.

"Oh my god," said Lucas as they came out of the Gilmore house, "that was….."

"Scary? Terrifying? Creepy? Horrific?" Lorelai offered a few choices of words to be chosen from.

"All of the above," said Lucas, "you did not kid."

"I know," said Lorelai, "I never kid."

"It was not that bad guys," Rory insisted. Lucas and Lorelai both shot her a look like she was a crazed woman.

"Rory," said Lucas, "I don't know what Friday night dinner you were at, but from where I was sitting, it was _bad_."

"That was so rude what she said about basketball," said Lorelai, "I'm really sorry about her. I thought she'd be on good behavior because you're Rory's friend and all, but apparently even that doesn't stop The Queen of Jabbing, Emily Gilmore."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "but it's amazing….the way she said everything, she made it seem like she was nice, so I just sat there and took it."

"That's Grandma for you," said Rory, "the queen of subtly."

"Rory," said Lucas, "do me a favor."

"Anything but having your babies," said Rory.

"Never, never, never, never, make me go to a Friday night dinner again," said Lucas.

"Wish granted," said Rory.

"Hey," Lorelai objected, "How come when I wanted to do that, you wouldn't let me? I mean, I'm you're _Mother_ and you wouldn't let me get out of Friday night dinners but the instant some Brad Pitt look alike comes along it's all, 'Oh of course Bradie, you can get out of Friday night dinners.'"

"Mom," said Rory, "you were the one who got us into Friday night dinners so that we can pay for Chilton."

"Oh," said Lorelai, "right. I guess I can't complain about them, right?"

"Right," said Rory.

"Darn," said Lorelai and Rory and Lucas laughed at her and then got in the jeep and drove to Stars Hollow.

"Luke," said Lorelai the next morning as they sat in Luke's diner, "you have to give me coffee. Coffee is my life source. I NEED my coffee."

"How many cups of coffee have you had?" Luke asked.

"Not many," Lorelai lied.

"How many?"

"Seven," said Lorelai.

"Ah-uh," said Luke, "you're not getting any."

"Luke," said Rory, "please give her the coffee otherwise I'm going to hear her complain about it all weekend."

"Fine," Luke relented and poured her a cup of coffee, "but you had better order some fruit or something with your meal."

"Okay," said Lorelai, "but I won't promise that I'll eat it."

Luke rolled his eyes. "What'll you have?" he said.

"Pancakes, with a side of strawberries, sausage, eggs, bacon, and toast," Lorelai ordered her food.

"Rory?" said Luke.

"Same, but without the toast and the strawberries," she said.

"Cutting down?"

"Never," said Rory, "I'm just going to eat a piece of hers and steal her strawberries."

"Aw," said Lorelai, and Luke gave her a look. "What? I'm teaching her to share and be kind to others."

"How is her taking the food off of your plate to make it look like you ate it teaching her to share?" said Luke. "Steal, maybe but I highly doubt that it teaches her to share."

"Food, food, food or I will go to Al's pancake world next time," said Lorelai.

"Fine," said Luke and with that he left to go and get the food.

Rory smiled and took a sip of her coffee. "Oh crud," she said, "I need to go get pens." Lorelai looked at her quizzically. "Pens?" she said. "Rory, honey, you can get pens tomorrow. You don't need to go get pens now. Besides that, don't you have plenty of pens?"

"Yes," said Rory, "but Paris wanted me to get pens for the members of the student council, so that each of them could have them to take notes at the meeting and if I don't get pens on the day that she told me to get pens then she is going to murder me."

"Okay, go get pens," said Lorelai.

Rory jumped up and walked over to the stationary store to go and get pens. Why the blonde girl insisted on having pens, she didn't know, but never the less, she did, and she didn't want to feel her wrath.

Going into the stationary store, Rory walked over to the counter where Kirk was. "Hey Kirk," she said, "do you have any cool pens that I can get? Paris wanted me to get some for the student council kids so we could have them to take notes with and I wanted to get some cool ones."

"Yes, we do as a matter of fact," said Kirk, "we have several new additions, including a line of pens that have fifties television characters on them. They're over there in the back, next to the Harry Potter stationary stuff."

"Okay," said Rory "thanks."

Rory walked down the isles of the stationary store browsing them while she looked for the place where the new pens were. Suddenly, she bumped into someone. "Oh," she said, "I'm sorry." Then she looked up and found that it was Dean.

There was an awkward pause and they just kind of stood there staring at one another. "It's okay," said Dean.

"What?" she said confused about what he was talking about.

"It's okay that you ran into me," said Dean, explaining what he meant, "I wasn't watching where I was going either."

"Oh yeah," said Rory, "yeah, I guess. So…what are you doing in the stationary store?"

"Oh," said Dean, "I was just….I was…I was buying something for my Mom. You know, her birthday's coming up."

"That's good," said Rory, "that you're buying something for your Mom. How is your Mom?"

"Good," said Dean, "she's good. She asked about you the other day."

"Oh," said Rory, "she did. What did you say?"

"I didn't have the heart to tell her," Dean admitted, "I just said that you were doing good and that you were worrying about your Harvard application. Seemed like a good lie, right?"

"Yeah," said Rory, "right. So she doesn't know about us, right?"

"Nope," said Dean.

"Oh well," said Rory, "when you do, you can tell her that I broke up with you, if you want. I mean, I don't want her mad at you for something that you did."

"No, it's okay," said Dean, "I'll tell her the truth. I _should _tell her the truth. I mean, I was a really big jerk to you."

"No offense," said Rory, "but you kind of were."

"Not kind of," said Dean, "I was, and I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay," said Rory, "well, actually it's not, but you're trying to be nice, so I figured that I might as well try too."

"Nah," said Dean, "you don't have to. Actually, I would fully understand if you weren't nice to me at all. I was a big jerk, and I shouldn't have been. I thought about it and it was wrong for me to be so overprotective of you. I'm really sorry about that. Is there any chance that you can forgive me one of these days?"

"One of these days, maybe," said Rory, "but not right now." She realized she was standing in the isle where the collection of pens that had the fifties characters on them were. She picked up a pack and said, "I've got to go."

"Yeah," said Dean, "bye."

"Bye," she said, and then went to go pay for the pens and she left and walked back to the diner, feeling weird.

When she sat down in the diner again, Lorelai asked, "Hey what took you so long? It can't have taken that long to find pens."

"It wasn't finding the pens that made me take so long," said Rory.

Noting the weird look on her face, Lorelai said, "Ror, honey, what's up?"

Rory frowned and then said, "I ran into Dean at the stationary store."

"Woah," said Lorelai, "first time since the break up, isn't it?"

"Besides the basketball game, yeah, it's the first time since the break up," said Rory, "he was in there buying a gift for his Mom."

"So," said Lorelai, "what happened? Was there a big fight? Was he a jerk? Do I need to go back to the stationary store and kick his ass?"

"No Mom," said Rory, "you don't need to go and kick his ass."

"But I WANT to kick his ass," said Lorelai.

"Well then, be my guest," said Rory, "but he was actually on good behavior. He apologized for being a jerk and said that he shouldn't have done what he did and then he asked if there was any chance that I could forgive him for what he had done."

"Wow," said Lorelai, "that's not what I expected from Dean. So, what'd you say to him then?"

"I just said that there might be a chance for me to forgive him but it wouldn't be right now because I'm not ready to forgive him," said Rory.

"That's my girl," said Lorelai, "although personally, I wouldn't forgive him at all."

Rory just shook her head smiling and took a sip of her coffee. The day progressed without anymore Dean Interference and then Sunday come and nothing much happened. Monday afternoon however was very eventful.

Lucas parked the red truck next to Lorelai's jeep and the two teenagers got out, both tired from a long day of school. "God," said Rory, "Mr. Remmy is killing us with homework. I don't know how I'm going to survive."

"Neither do I," said Lucas, "Nathan and Haley are so lucky. At Tree Hill, we never got this much homework."

"Oh, how I long to be in Tree Hill," said Rory.

"Oh yeah," said Lucas with sarcasm, "Because some of the people there are just so pleasant."

"Go on inside, I'm going to go get the mail," said Rory, and she headed to the mail box while Lucas headed to the door. Once at the mail box, Rory opened it and rummaged through the mail box to get the stuff.

She sighed and thought, I really hope that my Harvard application is in there. I can't wait for it anymore. If it doesn't come soon, I'll be about ready to drag Mom up to Harvard and get out myself.

Rory got the mail out and then closed the mail box and went up the steps of the porch inside the house, flipping through the mail. "Bill," she said as she got to the first thing, "bill, magazine, bill, magazine, bill, magazine, b------"

Rory at this point had stopped dead in her tracks in the living room, just staring at the thing that she held in her hands. It was as though the gods had heard what she had been thinking.

"Hey Rory," said Lucas, who was in the kitchen, "what do you want to drink? There's no coffee, but we got several variations of soda, and if you want coffee, I could always make some or we could just go to the diner."

Lucas, after not getting a response for a few seconds, called, "Rory, are you in the house? Because I thought I heard you come in but you're not saying anything, so I'm beginning to have doubts."

"Unnnhhhhuh," was all Rory managed out, still in shock about the piece of mail that she held in her hands.

"I'll take that as a yes, you're inside," said Lucas, and then, he asked, "now, what do you want to drink?"

Rory didn't answer, not daring to look up from the Harvard application she had in her hands. Oh my god, she thought, it's really here. My Harvard application is here. Oh my god, I was complaining about the amount of homework that I had before my Harvard application got here! Oh my god-----that's not smart. Smart people will look back on this day in history and be in disgust that Rory Gilmore was complaining about the amount of homework she had in high school when she got her Harvard application. I am feeling really stupid. How could I complain about the amount of homework that I got in high school right before I got my Harvard application? What was I thinking? I should have kept my mouth shut. I should have been talking about Jane Austen. I like Jane Austen, I could talk about Jane Austen everyday. But god forbid I talk about something smart when I'm getting my Harvard application, like Jane Austen. Instead, I am complaining about the amount of homework that I have in high school. That's it. I'm never going to complain about the amount of homework I have in high school otherwise an important event like my getting my Harvard application will take place, and I will feel incredibly stupid like I do now when the important event takes place. OH GOD! THIS IS MY HARVARD APPLICATION!

Lucas, wondering what on earth was going up with Rory, exited the kitchen and found Rory standing in the living room, staring wide eyed at what looked to be like a very big envelope. "Um," said Lucas, "Rory, are you okay? You haven't like gone into shock or anything, have you? Do I need to call an ambulance?"

"Lucas," said Rory, "I just got my Harvard application."

Lucas suddenly understood the amazed look on Rory's face. "You just got your Harvard application," he said, "that's great, Rory! You've got to go call you're Mom. She'll want to know."

"Oh my god," said Rory, "that's right. I completely forgot to go call mom. I've got to go call mom. I just got my Harvard application!" At this point, Rory was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah," said Lucas, "you just got your Harvard application." Smiling, he gave her a big hug, which Rory returned and then let go of her and she bounced off to call her Mother and tell her the good news.

Rory dialed phone number to the inn, and was surprised when the voice of not Michel, but Nathan answered. "Hello?" he said.

"Nathan?" she said. "What are you doing answering the phone? Where's Michel?"

"Nice to hear from you too, Rory," said Nathan, sarcastic, and then he said, "Michel wasn't here, the phone rang, so I answered it."

"You shouldn't have----" Rory was interrupted by the sounds coming from the other line. Apparently the angry Frenchman had returned, and was currently yelling at Nathan.

"What are you doing you stupid boy! You can not touch the phone! That is my phone! It is my job to answer the phone! Mine, mine, mine!" Rory could hear Michel shouting and she snickered, silently praying that Michel didn't decide to strangle Nathan with the phone line for answering the phone.

There was a brief static period, and then Michel, with a phony pleasant voice, said, "Independence Inn, Michel speaking. How can I help you?"

"Michel," said Rory, "it's Rory. You didn't kill Nathan, did you?"

"Oh," said Michel, "the boy who answered the phone that he shouldn't have? He's still moving, if that's what you mean by not killing him."

"Good enough answer," said Rory, "Michel, can you get my Mom please? I've got something important to tell her?"

"Is it life or death?" said Michel. "Because if it is not life or death, then I can not go and get the insipid woman that you call your Mother."

"Michel," said Rory in a stern, warning voice, "get my Mother now, or I will tell Nathan that Lorelai said that he could answer the phone anytime that he wants AND convince her to give him your job."

"You are too much like your Mother," Michel said disgusted, and then there was silence for a few moments, and Rory heard the phone get picked up again but this time it was her Mother who answered.

"Hey sweets," said Lorelai, "so do you have any idea why Nathan has a bruise on his forehead, because I just saw him leave the lobby, and he had a really big one. Think Haley was getting brutal during sex or something?"

Rory laughed and said, "No, Haley wasn't getting brutal. Michel just attempted to kill Nathan because he answered the phone."

"Oh, well, I liked it better when it was something kinky," said Lorelai, "the bruise looked much more interesting then. Okay, Michel said that there was something important that you wanted to tell me. So, go for it."

"Mom," said Rory, giving a long pause before she said it, "I got my Harvard application in the mail today."

Lorelai let out a very loud shriek, so loud that Rory had to hold the phone back from her ear until Lorelai was done. Now done with her shrieking bit, Loreali said, "Oh my god! I can't believe this. It's here, it's finally here!"

"Yep," said Rory, proudly, "it's here."

"Honey, that's so great," said Lorelai, "is Lucas there, does he know?"

"Lucas is here, he knows," said Rory.

"Okay," said Lorelai, "give me fifteen minutes and I will be home with food, junk food, and a movie and we'll celebrate."

"Mom," said Rory sternly, "it's a school night. Harvard would frown upon this."

"Well, you already got the application and all you have to do is send it in, so who cares what Harvard thinks?" said Lorelai.

"I still have to get accepted," Rory said pointedly.

Lorelai just laughed. "How about I rent something Harvardish, like the movie version of Sense and Sensibility?" Lorelai offered. "Will that make up for our immaturity by doing this on a school night?"

"Fine by me," said Rory, "but I don't think Lucas wants to watch a chick flick."

"Oh please," said Lorelai, "Sense and Sensibility is not a chick flick."

"Mom," said Rory, "you and I both know that it's like the Queen of chick flicks. The book was written by Jane Austen."

"Well," said Lorelai, "Lucas will have to deal because my baby got into Harvard! And besides that, the Edward guy is hot."

Rory chuckled at her Mother. "Okay Mom," she said, "I'll see you tonight and we'll open the application together, later."

"Sounds good," said Lorelai, "see you later sweety."

"See you," said Rory, and then they both hung up.

"So," said Lucas, "did I hear something about chick flicks?"

"Yeah," said Rory, "Mom's bringing home massive amounts of food so we can celebrate and she's renting the movie version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. You can run for the hills now, if you like."

Lucas chuckled. "Nah," he said, "It's your night, you got your application to Harvard. I'm going to stay with you." Then he added as an after thought, "Besides that, there's free food."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Typical, from a guy," said Rory and Lucas just smirked. Rory added, "Can you call Nathan and Haley to come too? Mom always buys enough food for an army, and I want them to be here too."

"Yeah, sure I will," said Lucas, "are you going to invite Lane?"

"Yeah, I was just going to call her," said Rory.

The two went off to go make their calls and later that night the four friends and Lorelai gathered in front of the television munching on pizza and junk food watching a movie in celebration of the event. Everything seemed to be smooth sailing for Rory Gilmore from here on out.

The next day past much too slowly for Rory's liking as she wanted nothing more then to be at home and filling out her Harvard application. Lucas noticed the girl's impatience during English, and leaned over and whispered, "Rory, calm down."

"I can't calm down," said Rory who was tapping the end of her pencil on the desk, "I want to be at home, filling out my application, not here."

"Well, you've only got like an hour left, so be patient," said Lucas.

"I'm trying," said Rory, "but you know patience is not a virtue God gave me. I mean, I am Lorelai Gilmore's daughter."

Lucas just shook his head, inwardly laughing to himself, and went back to work. However, Rory's anxiousness didn't last long. While exiting English to go to her locker, she heard three girls talking about their applications.

"I can't believe I've got to pick a new person to write my essay on," said one, "I didn't think everyone and they're brother would be writing it on Hillary Clinton."

"I know," said the other girl, "I've heard of precisely ten people who are, and I read in the college issue of Teen People that it's what EVERY girl in America is writing her college admissions essay on."

"That's where I heard it too," said the first girl, "that's why I'm changing mine."

"It sucks butt," said the third girl, "did you know that it's completely false that it's better to get it in earlier, too? I don't know how I'm going to remember to get it in by the due date…."

"I'm so worried about them," said the second girl who spoke, "I didn't know what to put on the special interests, so I just circled everything."

"Ooh, I heard on the Opera college special that they had last week on television that's a bad thing to do," said the one girl.

Rory, now getting panicked instead of excited about working on her college application quickly went to her locker, got her stuff, found Lucas, and urged him to drive as quickly as possible to home, and Lucas just looked at Rory like she was a mad woman or something but none the less got her home fast.

Meanwhile at the inn, the same Lorelai Gilmore was also getting impatient. She kept on walking back and forth making sure that things were done even though they had been done LONG before. It was making a certain concierge whose name won't be mentioned annoyed.

Lorelai popped back into the lobby room at the desk where Michel was and said, "Michel, did you check to see if the bathroom in room number----"

"Yes, it is finished," said Michel, "as is everything else that you asked about. Everything is set and your being anxious is making me anxious so would you please stop before I take the phone and beat you with it like I did the stupid teenager who answered it yesterday?"

Lorelai huffed. "Well, fine, see if I give you that raise," Lorelai muttered and upon hearing the crash in the kitchen went in there to go see what mishap Sookie had caused this time. Finally, something to keep her busy with, Lorelai couldn't help but think.

She ran off to go to the kitchen to go help Sookie (she'd knocked down the pans from one of the high cabinets. No one was hurt.)

Then finally work let out and she went directly home to wait for Rory to get home with Lucas. The two girls finally met each other and then worked on the Harvard application together. Lucas in the meantime still had to wait for his applications which hadn't come yet.

The next day much to Lorelai's disgust she received a call from her Mother. "Lorelai, it's your Mother," said Emily into the phone first thing.

"Hi to you too Mom," said Lorelai with her usual false cheeriness that she always had whenever she was talking to her Mother, "what did you want to talk to about?"

"I bought some college issues of magazines," said Emily, "and I wanted to tell you some interesting facts. Did you know that one man who works in admissions doesn't even look through the entire pile, he just puts one half in the acceptance pile, and the other half in the rejection pile?"

"Mom," said Lorelai, "calm down, you're panicking."

"I have a right to panic, I'm the grandmother," said Emily, "besides, Rory should know these things. What if Kate Hudson gets her spot? I mean, you know that all those young celebrities are into wanting to go to a university, and Kate Hudson, the insipid woman, was talking about going to Harvard last night on some television show or another. Did you also know that a lot of foreigners go to Harvard? I mean, they get a total of some odd percentage of foreigners every year and----"

"Mom," said Lorelai, lying, "please calm down. Rory and I already know this stuff. We're good, we're set. Thank you for calling. Bye." With that, Lorelai hung up on her Mother (who was of course very astounded by her having done that) and then the panic set in.

Oh my god, Lorelai couldn't help but think, oh my god Rory's not getting into Harvard. Kate Hudson's going to get her spot! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!

"Michel," she said to the Frenchman, "I'm going home early, make sure everything runs smoothly and do not yell or curse at any of the customers in French or English."

With that Lorelai quickly left the inn, driving home to wait impatiently for Rory.

As soon as Lucas dropped her off at home, Rory jumped out of the truck, saying a quick goodbye to him, and then she quickly ran up the porch and into the living room where her Mom was sitting who instantly sat up saying, "I'll be damned if Kate Hudson's going to get your spot!"

"I'm not getting into Harvard!" Rory exclaimed.

"The stupid admissions people are evil and don't even look at the applications," said Lorelai.

"I can't write my essay about Hillary Clinton because that's what every other Harvard bound girl is going to write her essay about."

"We have to do something!"

"What?"

"I don't know, call headmaster Charleston, he knows all," Lorelai offered.

Rory looked at her Mother like she was a mad woman. "And why do we call my headmaster? You hate the headmaster. That will only make things worse."

"Well, let's just do it because I'm freaking out and we need to do something," said Lorelai.

"Okay," said Rory.

So after stopping having their freak out Lorelai called the headmaster and after the two bickered for ten minutes something productive came out of it. The headmaster told them that he would set it up for them to meet a friend of his who had gone to Harvard to answer their questions and make the application process a lot more easy for the both of them. This meeting would take place on Friday, which got Rory and Lorelai out of Friday night dinners, so Lorelai was incredibly happy about the meeting.

Friday came almost too quickly, and both the Gilmore girls found themselves dressed nicely, standing outside one of the biggest houses that they had ever seen, bigger then the Grandparents house.

"Woah," said Lorelai, "is the President going to meet us at the door or the maid?"

"I'd say William Hearst," said Rory, "its bigger then the white house."

"Maybe God lives there," Lorelai offered.

"Maybe," said Rory.

"Okay," said Lorelai, "do you have any clue what these peoples names are?"

"I think the headmaster said their last name was….I don't remember. Some sort of color though," said Rory.

Lorelai rang the doorbell. "Mr. Blue? Mr. Pink? Mr. Purple? Oooooh! What about Mr. Lime Green?" she offered.

"Somehow I don't think his name is Mr. Lime Green," said Rory.

"Why not?" said Lorelai.

"Because I have never heard of anyone with the last name Lime Green," said Rory.

"Oh! I think I remember what it was! I think it was Greee----" she started to say but just then the door opened and if you could have seen the faces of both women you would have cracked up laughing and then asked if they needed to go see the doctor.

The person who had answered the door was not the maid, the President, nor God, or even the Butler. In fact, Rory knew the person as 'the devil'. It was none other then Tristan Dugrey who answered the door.

"Well," Lorelai muttered, "at least we went to hell with good intentions."

**A/N: So there is chapter thirteen. I can't even begin to describe how much my fingers hurt. I'm also writing the story Trouble Comes in Two's (Cupid's Bride is also writing it with me) and after I finished writing my part on Ch3 of that story, I went and finished writing this. It's nearly sixteen freaking pages! Okay, so my fingers hurt, and I would repsond to everyone who reviewed, but I can't, so instead I'm just going to put a quick copy and paste of all your names, and put a thanks, because I am not even kidding about how much they hurt right now. **

**P.S: If you want to read Trouble comes in twos, Cupid's Bride and I are listed under the penname, Witty Bride. It's the only story we've got up right now, but I'm certain they'll probably be many more to come. It's a Trory, and it takes place in the chilton years. So there you go. **

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**THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! I'm so sorry I couldn't respond to the reviews and if you hate me forever, I will understand completely. But my fingers ARE REALLY, REALLY, KILLING ME so I figure that they deserve a break. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	14. Don't dream its over

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own either Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill. Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman Palladino and the W.B. while One Tree Hill is owned by Marc Schwan and the w.b. **

Chapter fourteen

"Don't dream it's over"

Rory Gilmore was certain at that instant that both God and the Devil were howling with laughter at her. The oddity of the entire situation, no, the coincidence, of the entire situation was freaking her out. About a month ago, Rory had thought that THIS was the boy whose face she'd been looking at and it had turned out to be Lucas. Now, the boy, Tristin Dugrey, was standing right in front of her, wearing a red t-shirt, and jeans, looking so like Lucas with his lack of hair. The only way that you could tell them apart was the fact that he had a way of walking into a room like he owned the place.

Only now, he didn't very much look like he owned the place. Now, Tristin was standing there GAWKING, looking like a frog, with his mouth wide opened and his blue eyes bulging out. Of course, Rory considered the possibility of herself most likely looking like the female version of what Tristin looked like right now.

"Um," Tristin began to stammer, "er….I….uh…..are you the ones that Headmaster Charleston told us would be coming?"

Lorelai seeing that Rory was in shock, smiled, and said, "Yes, that would be us, I'm Lorelai Gilmore and I take it you already know my daughter?"

"Yes, I'm----" Tristin started to say something but stopped short as Lorelai interrupted him, saying, "Tristin Dugrey, The Spawn of Satan, I know. Rory's told me all about you, of course there were a lot of colorful words mixed in, but none the less, she's told me all about you."

"Oh," said Tristin and he started shifting from side to side, as though nervous, which undoubtedly, he most likely was; either that or he was feeling awkward. "So, come on in…."

Lorelai nudged Rory, who was still gapping at Tristin, and the two walked inside. The maid that had suddenly arrived took their coats for them and then walked off to put them somewhere. "So," said Lorelai, "nice place you got here. Very…..big."

"Yeah," said Tristin, "it's very big."

"Huge," Rory finally uttered a word.

"Huh," said Lorelai, "she speaks. Imagine that."

Rory narrowed her eyes at her Mother, sending her a glare. There was another pause in the room and Tristin, not being able to take the silence said, "I'll be right back. Dad's in the study, so I'll go get him for you."

He left, leaving Rory and Lorelai standing there. After a few moments, Rory, said, "How could you not remember the name DUGREY after all the times that I came home, ranting about how much I hated the twit?"

"I'm sorry," said Lorelai, "I was nervous, and I didn't hear half of what the headmaster said just that he'd call us back and give us directions and tell us that it was all set up."

"Mom," said Rory, "do you know how awkward this is going to be with him here?"

Lorelai sighed, and in a tired voice, she said, "Yes, I know how awkward it's going to be with him here." There was a moments silence. "Look, do you want to just bail? We could go find the maid, get our coats, and just get out of here right now, and then you wouldn't have to deal with him."

Rory bit her lip, thinking about it, and then relented and said, "No Mom, we're going to stay. We've both got questions, and we need answers. I don't care if Tristin's here or not. So what if it's a little awkward? I'm here to ask questions about Harvard, and that's it. Besides, it's not like I'm going to talk to Tristin or anything. I mean, we'll sit and have dinner, and find out a bit about Harvard and that'll be it."

"Okay," said Lorelai, "but the instant you feel the need that we've got to go, you just scratch your nose or something, and then we'll run for it, okay? I'll yell fire or something."

"I highly doubt they're going to believe that there's a fire without being able to smell smoke," said Rory.

"Oh darn," said Lorelai, "I should have asked Lucas if I could borrow his axe. That stuff smells like smoke."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Lucas doesn't wear axe," said Rory.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know what the boy puts in underneath his armpits?"

"I don't," said Rory, "but if Lucas wore axe, you'd be able to smell it. Since Lucas doesn't smell like smoke, I know that he doesn't wear axe."

"Oh," said Lorelai, "good point."

Just then a man entered who looked like an older version of Tristin. "Hello," he said, "sorry to be keeping you. I'm Harrison Dugrey. Headmaster Charleston told me about you. You must be Rory?" He looked at Rory.

"Yep, that's me," said Rory, "nice to meet you. Um, I used to go to school with your son."

Harrison looked at Tristin who was standing behind him and mouthed something that Lorelai and Rory couldn't tell what it was. Whatever it was that Harrison had mouthed though had Tristin turning red and he muttered something incoercible.

"Well," said Harrison, "this puts an interesting twist on things. Tristin, you must be delighted to see an old school friend while on your----suspension form military school."

Tristin looked like he was about to nearly choke his father for saying that. "Dad," he said, "did you have to bring that up?"

"I didn't know how else to put it," said Harrison, "what did you want me to do, say that you were visiting in the middle of the school year?"

Tristin just shook his head. "Whatever," he said bitterly, "let's just go into the dining room. You know how Mom gets impatient with us if we're not on time."

Harrison and Tristin walked a few steps ahead of Rory and Lorelai and they were luckily enough out of ear shot so Rory and Lorelai could talk. "Okay," said Lorelai, "I'm beginning to suddenly have flashbacks of visits to Christopher's house."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding," she said, "Dad's house was like this?"

"Not as big, but the bubbly feelings going on in here, yeah, it was pretty much like what we just witnessed," said Lorelai.

"Freaky," Rory commented.

"Very," said Lorelai.

Lorelai and Rory entered the room just after Tristin and his father Harrison. They were greeted by a petite blonde woman with a fake smile on her lips. "Hello, you must be Lorelai and Rory," she said, with phony cheer, "pleasant to meet you. I'm Joan."

"Like Joan of Arch?" Lorelai joked.

Joan Dugrey got a confused look on her face and just said, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Never mind," said Lorelai.

Rory rolled her eyes at her Mother and shook her head. Between Tristin and his parents, this was going to be a _long _night. She only hoped that she wouldn't start making the food talk. That would only make her dig a deeper hole then the one that she'd already started digging.

The food was then brought in by the maid, and Harrison said to Lorelai, "Terribly sorry, but I didn't get your name earlier. And you are?"

"Lorelai," Lorelai introduced herself, "Rory's Mother."

"Oh, a pleasure to meet you," said Harrison, and then he turned his attention to the youngest Gilmore, Rory, "now Rory, what questions do you have about Harvard?"

"Well," said Rory, "I was just wondering how you got through the application process. I mean, it's so stressful."

"The thing that helped me the most was just finding an hour in the day to relax. Do something you really enjoy to make yourself calm," said Harrison, "it calms the nerves and takes your mind off of things and when you're ready to start filling out applications again, then you are ready and your mind is clear."

"Duly noted," said Rory.

"So," said Lorelai, and added as a joke, "how are the dorm parties?"

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, slightly mortified.

"Well…I….er…." Harrison stammered and Tristin snickered at his fathers loss for words. Harrison regained himself and shot Tristin a look. "Tristin, it's very impolite to snicker when one is at a loss for words."

"Yeah, sorry," said Tristin, deadpanned, "I forgot that everything is impolite in this house."

"Young man," said Harrison in a warning voice.

Tristin sighed and said, in a tone that made it evident that he didn't really mean it, "Sorry for snickering, Dad."

"Your attempt at an apology is accepted," said Harrison.

There was a pause and the only thing that was heard in the room was the cutting of knives and forks along with the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway outside the dinning room.

"So Lorelai," said Harrison, "you're Richard and Emily's girl, are you not?"

"That's me," said Lorelai, and she wanted badly to add 'the bane of their existence' but she didn't think that would help make the situation anymore better and Rory would shoot her another annoyed glare if she did.

"So," said Harrison, "you must be very proud of Rory. It's amazing to see a young girl without the proper background so eager to get into an ivy league school. Tristin has had every advantage in the world and he doesn't even want to go to college---he insists on joining the military. His fault, of course, for ruining his chances at a good education----if he hadn't have broken into that safe, he'd be bound for Harvard as well."

"Dad!" Tristin exclaimed looking mortified. "How can you say that? And in front of them, too!"

"I was only stating a fact, Tristin," said Harrison.

"A fact?" Tristin echoed. "A fact! Dad, I'm not talking about what you said about me. I've grown up in this house, so I'm used to hearing 'Tristin, you're a low life' but when you say something about someone you don't even know, that's just fucked up."

Joan let out a horrified gasp, and Harrison glared icily at his son. "Tristin Janlen Dugrey," he said angrily, "how dare you use such language at the dinner table. And in front of guests, too! We're your parents son, you have no right to back talk us. Go to your room, now."

"Gladly," said Tristin in an angry tone, and he stormed up the stairs to the room.

Lorelai and Rory had seemingly been forgotten in the midst of all this, and had watched the scene slack-jawed. They hadn't been able to believe that Harrison had said those things, much less the entire scene that had occurred.

While Joan and Harrison shouted at each other, Lorelai whispered to her daughter, "Okay, I think we should leave Sharon and Ozzy to continue this and go home."

Rory made no objections, she herself not wanting to stay a minute longer at the dinner, questions about Harvard or no. "C'mon, let's go get our coats and get out of there," said Rory, and the two girls got out of their seats and went to go grab their coats and then went outside.

"Okay," said Lorelai, "that definitely didn't go as planned."

"Nope," said Rory.

"So, where to?" said Lorelai.

Rory was about to say 'home' when she heard something from the back of the house. "I'll be right back," said Rory and Lorelai gave her a weird look but just muttered 'Okay' and Rory went to the back of the house where she saw Tristin climbing down from the balcony of his room.

She waited until he landed on the ground, and then she spoke, "I'm sorry about what happened back there."

Tristin turned and looked at her, the surprise evident on his face. "It's not your fault," said Tristin, and then looking at her curiously, he added, "So what are you still doing here? I thought you and your Mom would have jetted out of here."

"We are," said Rory, "well, we're going to, anyway. I just heard you sneaking out and wanted to say that I was sorry for what happened back there. You're Dad shouldn't have said those things about you."

"Yeah well I'm used to it," said Tristin, "I'm just pissed because he said those things about you. I mean, aren't you?"

"No," said Rory, "I was actually just kind of in shock. I couldn't believe someone would even say something like that."

They stood there in awkward silence looking at each other and then Rory asked, "How's military school?"

"Better then this place," said Tristin, "how's Bag Boy?"

"Don't know and don't care," said Rory.

"What?" said Tristin, sounding shocked. "You two were the wonder couple when I left."

"Well he wanted me to choose between my friends and him and I wouldn't choose so he broke up with me," said Rory.

"He's an idiot," said Tristin.

"I know," said Rory, and she asked, "So, what happened there, towards the end of your stay at Chilton? I mean, before the P.J. Harvey incident, we were almost friends."

Tristin shook his head. "I don't know," said Tristin, "and I really don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I won't make you, if you don't," said Rory.

"Thank you," he said.

Just then, Lorelai called from the front of the house, "Rory, where are you? Come on, I want to get going. I think they're going to notice that were gone, and if that's the case, then they're going to make us stay for dessert and it'll most likely be some weird, fruit thing."

Tristin chuckled. "Looks like you'd better get going," he said.

"Yeah," said Rory, "bye Tristin."

"Bye," said Tristin, and he added, "Rory."

Rory let out a laugh. "And he learns my name AFTER he leaves," she joked.

"Yeah, well, I'm a bit slow, like my father says," Tristin said.

Rory smiled and turned to leave, but then Tristin called out, "Hey Mary!"

Rory sighed and turned around. "What?"

"Do you think, somewhere down the line, I'll get a chance with you?" he asked. "I don't know, maybe if we meet up again or something?"

Rory chuckled. "You never know," said Rory, "just….don't dream it's over, okay?"

Tristin looked at her oddly, smirked, and said, "Okay. So, do I get to give you a goodbye kiss this time?"

Rory shook her head, walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and he gave her a kiss on the cheek too. He leaned down and gave her a hug, and said, "Bye."

"Bye," said Rory, and she let go and turned and went back to the front of the house, where her Mother stood waiting.

"So," said Lorelai, "what was that about?"

"Oh, nothing," said Rory.

"Nothing?" said Lorelai, raising her eyebrows.

"Yep," said Rory, "nothing."

"Okay," said Lorelai, "let's go home."

"Yeah," said Rory, "let's go."

The two got into the jeep and drove to back to Stars Hollow, Rory smiling and thinking about the changes that had occurred in Tristin. Military school had definitely done him good. And somehow she knew that would be the last she saw of Tristin Dugrey.

**A/N: So there you go, chapter fourteen. Much shorter, and even better, my fingers aren't killing me. So that was my Tristin bit, after all I said about him not going to be in there, I put him in. That was for you, Cupid's Bride.  And now for the reviews. **

**Thank you to: **

**Unforgettablefaith: Sorry about that. I know, cliff hangers are evil. But Can you blame me? My fingers were Dieing from pain. **

**Bumpyrider: I'm glad you liked the chapter. The last line was my favorite too. **

**Tristinsgurlmary: Tristin was just making a short appearance. He won't be in anymore of the story. It's definitely going to be Rory and Lucas. **

**Pearls24: Aw, thanks. My fingers are much better now. Your review was really sweet. I'm glad you liked that chapter. **

**Rogan fan: Thank you for saying that. Its a big compliment to me that you think the characters are portrayed like they are in the television shows. Tristin was just in there for fun. It's definitely going to be a Rory and Lucas story. **

**Shygirly4eva: Glad you liked the part with Michel and the phone. Yeah, I know, poor Nathan. Lol. There will be more Nathan in chapter fifteen. And Haley. I'm planning on making the dance marathon be in the next chapter, and then I'm going to have thanksgiving, Christmas, and then they'll be off to Tree Hill for Spring Break!  **

**Emilie: Thank you. Yeah, Lorelai and Rory's faces had to have been pretty funny when Tristin opened the door. **

**LoVe23: Yes, I know, I'm insane for bringing Tristin in, but he'll only be in this chapter, and then no part of the story. I'm glad you like Trouble comes in twos. Cupids Bride and I are working very hard on it, although Cupids Bride does a lot more work then me. She's brilliant.  **

**Fairieangel: Sorry to disappoint you, but there's not going to be any Lucas and Tristin interaction. I just hated how Tristin popped up in season one, and one episode of season two, and then that was it. I wanted him and Rory to get some closure. **

**Lolitaro fan j.r.a: Thank you! I'm glad you like my writing style. **

**Sara: Thanks. Funny little feeling rocks.:) **

**Tickle582: I am glad you like it. Yeah, I like trory stories too, but I've become attached to Lucas and Rory, and like the idea of them getting together, so Rory and Lucas will definitely be together in this story. **

**Kirs: Aw, thanks. I'm glad you like the story. I hope that I updated soon enough for you. **

**Cupid's Bride: Thank you. I'm glad you like the ending. Yep, I'm busy, but you're not driving me too hard. I myself was the one doing the driving. I wanted Ch.13 to be a long chapter, and in the end, I got sore fingers because of myself.  Thank you for the corrections.  Yep, the blonde boy was in town. No damage done, amazingly enough. **

**Princetongirl: Thanks. **

**Beautifulgoodbye15: Your very welcome. I try to thank everybody because I know that if you guys didn't review, then this story would have a big fat 0 in reviews and I'd question my writing ability. It means a lot to me when you guys review, so I thank all of you because of it. **

**Leigh: Thanks.  **

**Potostfbeyeluvr: Sorry, he wasn't a jerk. But just so you know, that's the only chapter Tristin will be in. No worries for our pal, Lucas. Lucas will get the girl. **

**Angelgirl0910: Thank you. I know, I'm twisted like that, putting characters in when people least expect it. ;) I'm glad you liked it. **

**Othlover04: Thank you. It was nice talking to you on aim.  **

**Sea4shoes: Thank you. Sorry I took so long on the update. But I wanted to make it a good chapter. **

**Forever cynical: Ah, yes, I'm evil. Sorry about the cliff hanger. I know how you feel. Cliff hangers suck, and I debated on making it a cliff hanger, but the fingers were about out of steam, so I let them have a break, and made it a cliff hanger. **

**Streetracinchiki: Thanks, I'm glad you like it.  **

**Madammarauder: Thank you. That's a really huge compliment that you think it's like the show. Yes, I freaking love Harry Potter and I will definitely read your fics. Only two more days until HPB6! Thank god! I was going to go insane if I had to wait any longer. My friends and I have been counting down since June for it. **

**Smileylove567: That's sweet. Thanks I'm glad its one of your favorites. **

**Lkwreader: lol. And here I thought no one would notice. Nah, I wasn't in the mood for big long descriptions.  **

**Toniboo: Thanks. My fingers are much better. I am glad that you liked the chapter and I hope you like this one just as much. **

**Lorelailovescoffee: Thanks. I'm glad you liked the Michel thing.  **

**Fallen Heart: Sorry to hear about you leaving before the chapter is up. I don't know about the college thing yet. I'm considering Harvard for Rory, but she might go to Yale like she does on the show. I don't know. And to your review for ch.13, yep, I've got siblings. All sisters. Five. Although three of them are my half siblings. We share the same Dad, but not the same Mom. My sister Sierra is my only full sister. **

**KarahBella: Glad you liked it. No, Tristin and Lucas aren't going to meet. That's the only chapter Tristin will be in. Thank for the review.  **

**Sum41rocks: Funny, funny, person. Note the sarcasm. Lol. Jk. I thought Tristin would be better then that freaky old dude in 'Application Anxiety'. That and the brother and sister in that episode freaked me out. Of course, I was planning on bringing Tristin in anyway. **

**Newyoricannc: I updated, but sadly its not going to be a trory. Sorry about that, but thanks for reviewing. **

**Praisedto-meetyou: Aw, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger. But I updated so that's something. **

**Katydid7186: Coldplay on Snl! Oh my god, you lucky duck. I would have liked to see that but this is what I get for being dragged to MONTANA-----no television. Glad you liked the chapter and hope you didn't have to wait too long for Coldplay. **

**Kit Jordan: Thanks!  **

**Kylie 1403: Yes, I'm evil. But I updated, so there you go. **

**SnowyOwl-17: I'm glad you liked that chapter. I hope this one was as good as that one. **

**Beautifulbutterfly: Glad you liked the 'whose last name was limegreen' thing. I was being random when I wrote that part. **

**Lackinglime123: It's okay. Someone is as rambly as Rory Gilmore when she's nervous. I will read your story and hopefully you can pester your sister more. **

**Coffeejunkie123: lol. Thank you. I hope you like this chapter too. Sadly, Lucas and Tristin do not meet. **

**Gilmoregirl: I'm glad you liked it, and thank you for your review. **

**Thank you, you guys. You're all really amazing and nice reviewers and I'm SOOOOOO sorry I couldn't answer your reviews for chapter twelve. I hope this made up for it.  **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	15. lets get it started in here

**Disclaimer: Me? Own Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill? Only in my wildest dreams would that happen. Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman Palladino and the w.b. and One Tree Hill is owned by Marc Schwan and the w.b. **

**Note: Some of the dialogue in here belongs to the writers of Gilmore Girls and the W.B. as this chapter is based off of the episode 'They shoot Gilmores, don't they?' Some things from the episode have been changed so as to make the story go with the fanfiction. Also, I decided to vary from the episode order of season three a little bit, and am doing the dance marathon before Thanksgiving. **

Chapter fifteen

"Let's get it started in here"

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Lane asked. She sat in her room with Nathan and Haley planning a way to get Lucas and Rory together. "I mean, what if it turns into the Doner Party instead and they start eating themselves for food?"

"Of course it's going to work," said Haley, "I mean, something always happens when you lock two hormone driven teenagers of the opposite sex in a closet. Yes, it's a little old and has been done over and over again, but it's had proven results."

Nathan shook his head. "Haley," he said, "how many times do I have to tell you, Lucas and Rory aren't ready for this----they just got out of really bad relationships."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Nathan," said Haley, "it's been nearly a month since that whole incident with Peyton and Brooke, I think Lucas is over it."

"Maybe Lucas is," said Nathan, "but what about Rory? It's only been a few weeks since the whole Dean thing."

"Oh, she's definitely over Dean," said Lane, "she was checking out some guy yesterday when we were at the diner."

Haley raised an eyebrow. "Really?" said Haley. "Who?"

"Oh," said Lane, "just some guy that goes to my school. Nothing to worry about though. He's got a girlfriend. They're like future Prom King and Queen material, so no worries about them breaking up. That won't happen until _after _high school, for the sake of reputations."

"Okay," said Haley, "good. So, you all know the plan, right?"

Nathan joked, "Can we go through it again?"

Haley shot Nathan a glare and he shook his head and sighed. "Okay, okay," he said, "get Lucas and Rory to go to the Dance Marathon as partners, and then around at least four o' clock in the morning, I will ask Lucas to come with me to find my coat, and you, Haley, will ask Rory to come with you to find your coat, and then Lane will lock them in the coat closet."

Haley smiled. "Good," she said, "now you forget any of that, and you won't be getting any s----"

Lane interrupted her saying, "Don't say that word. You say that word and my Mother will be up here in an instant. She can hear things a mile off. I swear, she's got an antenna on her head."

"Oh," said Haley, "okay. Well, then, just don't screw it up, babe. Got it?"

Nathan laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Okay," said Nathan, "but if this doesn't work, I'm going to say 'I told you so.'"

"And if it does work, then I'm going to say, 'I told you so'," said Haley, grinning at her husband.

The door from down stairs opened and there was the jingling of the belle. "Lane!" the voice of Mrs. Kim called out. Lane got a scared look on her face.

"Oh my god," said Lane, "out the window."

Nathan and Haley looked confused. "What?" they both said at the same time.

"Out the window, now," said Lane, "if she sees Nathan, well, then there won't be a Nathan anymore to see."

Nathan, looking somewhat paranoid climbed out the window instantly. He was nearly caught by Mrs. Kim several times, but managed to climb down the window without getting caught.

He waited outside and Haley came out with Lane and Mrs. Kim. "Thank you so much for the book Mrs. Kim," Haley was saying, "I'll be sure to read it."

"You had better," said Mrs. Kim, "it keeps girls out of trouble, and from kissing boys. That's why Lane hasn't been trouble, because I read it to her as a baby."

"Well, I'm certain I'll learn a lot from it," Haley was lying, with a fake smile on her face.

"Bye Haley," said Lane.

"Bye Lane," said Haley and she walked off the porch with a 'thank god' look on her face and Nathan, who had been hiding behind a bush in the Kim's backyard, came out smiling.

"So what book did she give you?"

"I don't know, the titles in Korean," said Haley.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "And you took it because?" he said.

"Because she wouldn't let me leave unless I took it," said Haley.

"Okay," said Nathan, and smiling, he added, "so you want to go meet Lucas and Rory at the diner?"

"Yeah," said Haley, "let's go."

At the diner, Lucas, Rory, and Lorelai sat waiting for Keith. Lorelai was keeping them amused as she looked for a partner for the dance marathon. "What about that one?" said Rory, pointing to a decent looking guy.

"He's too short," said Lorelai, "my back would break, and then I wouldn't be able to win the dance marathon and I'd spend hour twenty four in the hospital and Kirk would rub it in my face."

Lucas raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay, instead of looking for a partner all the time, wouldn't the logical step be that you and Kirk be partners, because then you could both win?"

Lorelai looked at him like he was insane. "I'm sorry, what was that Lucas?" said Lorelai. "It seems that your mouth is moving, but no words are coming out. Kirk can not be my partner. Kirk is the _enemy." _

"He wasn't the enemy when he asked you out," said Rory smiling at the memory of the Kirk incident.

Lorelai glared at her daughter. "You just _had _to bring that up, didn't you?"

Lucas laughed. "Oh yeah," he said, "I'd forgotten about that."

"Evil, evil, children," said Lorelai, "this is the last time that I buy you coffee, Lucas Scott."

Lucas looked at her oddly. "You didn't buy me coffee," said Lucas, "I bought my own cup."

"Well," said Lorelai, "if you ask then, I won't buy it."

"Right," said Lucas with sarcasm.

"I have to beat Kirk," said Lorelai, "this is no laughing matter. I mean, if he wins again, it will be the third year in a row that he has beaten me and I can't allow him to beat me again. I won't let him go around shoving that trophy in my face all week."

Rory and Lucas both let out a sigh. She was relentless on this dance marathon thing, of course once Lorelai Gilmore started something, she wasn't about to give it up anytime soon. She was ambitious.

Luke came up and refilled their coffee pots. "She still on about that dance marathon thing?" said Luke, looking to the teenagers for answers.

"Yes," Lucas and Rory responded, both sounding bored out of their minds.

Luke shook his head. "What about that guy over there?" he said pointing to a guy who was somewhat pale standing out on the street.

"Hm," said Lorelai looking at the guy thoughtfully, and then she said, "No."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" he asked.

"Too pale," Lorelai responded.

"So what?" said Luke.

"Pale means sickly," she said.

"The woman has a point," said Rory in agreement with her Mother.

Luke chose to ignore this, and turned to Lorelai, saying, "Or it could just mean that the guy needs sunscreen."

"Or it could mean that he has mad cow disease," said Lorelai pointedly.

Luke looked tired of this conversation. "Pale does not mean mad cow disease," he said simply.

"Have you ever had mad cow?" Lorelai questioned.

"Twice last week and my coloring was wonderful," Luke replied with sarcasm.

"I need a great dance partner this year," said Lorelai, "someone strong, non-clutzy, with lots of stamina. Ooooh, how about that tall guy?"

"Mrs. Coutler's about six foot two," said Luke, and Lorelai frowned at him.

"Laugh all you want, but this dance marathon is important to me," said Lorelai seriously, "four years in a row now I have come _this _close to winning. Last year, I swear to God, I had it!"

Luke gave a sympathetic look to the kids. "Sorry, but I'm leaving you to put up with her," he said and started to walk off.

"You can't leave us!" said Rory. "That's not fair!"

"Yeah!" said Lucas. "We have to stay and listen to the story by obligation."

"Sorry kiddies," said Luke, and he went to go back to work behind the counter.

"Luke!" Lucas and Rory both called, desperate but he was already taking cash from someone who was paying for the food that they had ordered.

"It was hour twenty three," Lorelai had started, "I'm dancing with Henry Ho-Ho McAlphie the third."

"Mom," said Rory, "we know the story."

Lorelai kept on going anyway as though she hadn't heard what her daughter had said. "And Ho-Ho's fading so I'm trying to buck him up saying, 'Come on, Ho-Ho. Stay with me Ho-Ho.' And then all of a sudden he starts yelling, 'Stop calling me Ho-Ho! It's making me hungry."

Rory looked at Lucas. "Did you hear me say that we know the story?" she asked.

Lucas nodded. "Yep," he said, "I heard you say that we already know the story. Which we do know it, the both of us, so you can stop telling it now, Lorelai."

Lorelai kept on telling the story, ignoring their attempts to get her to stop. "And out of nowhere Kirk comes dancing by, waving a McDonald's hot apple pie in the air, and of course Ho-Ho lunges for the pie and drops my hand and that was it. Kirk wins, I'm out. I'm going to get that Ho-Ho someday."

"We'll help," said Rory and Lucas in the same voice.

Just then the door to the diner opened and in walked Nathan and Haley together, holding hands. "Hey gang," said Haley cheerily and Nathan grabbed a chair and sat down and she sat down in his lap.

"Hey Haley, Nathan," Lucas and Rory greeted, and Lorelai nodded hello, but didn't actually say anything because she was still deep in thought about what to do for her partner for the dance marathon.

"Hey," said Nathan, and then looking at the determined, thoughtful look on Lorelai's face, he asked, "Okay what's with her?"

"She's grumpy because she can't find the perfect partner for the dance marathon," Rory explained to him.

Nathan chuckled. "She gets obsessed with the weirdest things," said Nathan.

"Well, that's the Lorelai Gilmore way," said Lucas.

Haley, at the subject of the dance marathon, said, "So Rory, are you going to the dance marathon?"

"Oh no," said Rory, "I have no desire to get out of my bed at one o' clock in the morning and dance for twenty four hours."

"Me either," said Lucas, "that's just insane."

Nathan snickered and Haley shot him a glare.

"I wanna win," said Lorelai out of no where. Rory and Lucas both let out a groan at her insistence.

"We know," said Lucas and Rory who were by now thoroughly annoyed with this all too familiar conversation.

"I need a partner," said Lorelai.

"We now," Lucas and Rory repeated, and they both added, "You'll get one."

"Mmm," said Lorelai and then she looked at Lucas with a smile and a look of mischief in her eyes. Lucas looked terrified by it.

"No," said Lucas, "I'm not being your partner. No flipping way."

"But Lucas, you're perfect," said Lorelai, "you're tall, and you're young, and healthy, and you'll last for hours!"

"I'm not going," said Lucas, "I'm sleeping with a normal person and hanging out with Rory."

"Well said my friend," said Rory.

"But, but, but---"

"No buts," said Lucas firmly.

Lorelai then turned to Nathan with an evil glint in her eye. "Haley," she said, "would you mind if I borrowed your husband for twenty four hours?"

"Sorry Lorelai," Haley apologized, "but he'll be too busy dancing with me."

"Haley," Nathan whined, "you can't be serious about making me go to this thing. Twenty four hours! I won't last."

Haley poked Nathan in the ribs, causing him to go, "Ow!"

"You will last," said Haley, "you will last because I say so."

"Way to drive 'em, sister," said Lorelai, grinning.

"Thank you," said Haley.

Nathan just shook his head. "You're mad," he said, "the both of you."

"Well you know what they say," said Lorelai, "from madness comes greatness."

"Since when have they said that?" said Nathan.

"Since now," said Haley, smiling.

Just then Keith came up to their table. "Sorry I'm late," he said, "Gypsy wanted me to help her with this car that she was having problems with, so I helped. "

"It's okay," said Lorelai, "take a seat. You want a cup of coffee? I can get you a cup of coffee."

Keith looked at the kids for an answer to Lorelai's strange behavior. "Okay," said Keith, "what does she want?"

"She wants you to be her partner for the dance marathon," the group chorused.

Keith was confused by what they were talking about. "The dance whatsit?" he said.

"The dance marathon," said Rory, "it's an event in Stars Hollow, and it takes place in the Stars Hollow High gym. It lasts twenty four hours and Mom has lost four years in a row and she is hell bent on winning, because if she doesn't, then Kirk will mock her again."

"Kirk?" said Kieth. "Isn't that the guy who asked you out a while ago?"

Lorelai looked depressed by that and muttered, "Why is that remembered?"

Keith chuckled. "Alright Lorelai," he said, "I'm sorry about that. Sure, I'll be your partner."

"Thank you! You're a god!" Lorelai exclaimed, hugging him.

Luke, who stood at the counter taking orders, watched the scene with an annoyed look on his face. What had just happened with Keith and Lorelai? Well, that was obvious. He must have agreed to be her partner for the dance marathon. _He_ should have agreed to be her partner for the dance marathon.

Something then occurred to further peeve Luke. Taylor Doose entered the diner, much to his disgust. He inwardly groaned.

"Breath in deep, folks! Smells like fall," Taylor exclaimed happily.

"Get out, Taylor," said Luke, annoyed.

"Why?" said Taylor, puzzled.

"It's just a code I live by," said Luke.

"Oh…pffttt, you. Listen, I'd like to run a little something by you," said Taylor.

"I'm busy, Taylor," said Luke.

Much to his discharging, Taylor continued on talking, "I was just thinking how nice it would be if you could set up a little coffee stand at the marathon."

Luke wasn't paying any attention to Taylor. Instead, he was glaring at the scene where Keith and Lorelai sat chatting at the table happily and he said something that made her laugh. Luke, realizing that Taylor had spoken, saying something about a coffee stand, said, "Coffee stand?"

"Yes," said Taylor, "I mean, these people have to try and stay up for twenty four hours. What better way to help you stay up then a nice, strong, cup of coffee, huh? What do you say?"

"Sure," said Luke with reluctance, still glaring at the scene between Keith and Lorelai.

"Really?" said Taylor.

"For a buck a cup," Luke added.

Taylor frowned. "Luke, this marathon is a charitable event," he said pointedly.

"Taylor, we have been raising money to restore that stupid bridge for eight years," said Luke.

"We're not raising money to restore the bridge," said Taylor.

"We're not?" said Luke, confused.

"No," said Taylor, "we have that money. The Tennessee Williams look a like contest last month put us right over the top."

"Then what the hell is this dumb thing for?" Luke demanded. He was still looking past Taylor at Lorelai and Keith. He decided that he really didn't like that Keith.

"A tarp," Taylor answered.

Luke looked at Taylor like he was the mad man that Luke had already long ago decided that he was. "A what?" Luke asked.

"To cover the bridge," said Taylor calmly as though it were the most logical thing in the world.

"This is a first Taylor, I actually need to sit down," said Luke.

"Well, Luke, you know as well as I do that if we start renovations now, heading right into the snow and rainy part of the season, then everything we do is going to get ruined, and there we are----back at square one."

"Taylor, you are asking me to donate free coffee to hundreds of people so you can raise money to buy a tarp," said Luke.

"How about fifty cents a cup?" Taylor offered.

"How about I charge for cream?" Luke suggested.

"You would kick Tiny Tim's crutch out from under him, wouldn't you?" Taylor said, looking at Luke with disgust on his face.

"If he asks for a free cup of coffee, gimpy's going down," said Luke.

Taylor sighed, frustrated. "You have no heart, Luke Danes," said Taylor.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to go along with the Scare Crow and Dorothy to The Emerald City, so the Wizard of Oz couldn't get me one," said Luke sarcastically.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "You're in a bad mood," said Taylor.

"I'm always in a bad mood," Luke pointed out.

"Yes, but today you're in an incredibly bad mood," Taylor said.

Luke ignored him and continued glaring at Keith. He was going to be dancing with Lorelai for twenty four hours and Luke would be serving coffee. Ha! That was an advantage he had over the idiot. He had the coffee, so naturally he would see Lorelai more then Keith would. Wait, no he wouldn't. He would only see Lorelai several times during the dance marathon because Lorelai was hell bent on winning and wouldn't stop for anything.

Taylor then asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," said Luke, "I'm just staring out into space. Can't a person stare out into space?"

Taylor looked at where Luke had been looking. A smile came up on his face. "Ah," said Taylor, "you're jealous because of Keith and Lorelai, aren't you?"

"I'm not jealous," said Luke, "Lorelai can have whoever she wants for a dance partner. I am not jealous. Besides, Lorelai and I are just friends."

"You know," said Taylor, ignoring what Luke had just said, "if you weren't such a grump, you could have been her partner. But _no _you're too stubborn to do that."

"Taylor," said Luke, "get out."

Taylor shrugged and left the diner.

That night, Lorelai and Rory found themselves eating at the grandparent's house again for Friday night dinners. This time though, only Emily was there as Richard was away on business.

"This is amazing chicken, Mom," said Lorelai, "I mean it, it's really great."

"Thank you, Lorelai," said Emily, pleased.

"It's like super chicken. I bet it could fly. Have you tried tossing it out the window?"

Emily put down her fork and knife for a moment and demanded, "Alright, what's going on?"

"What?" Lorelai asked, confused. "I like the chicken."

"Nobody likes chicken that much Lorelai," said Emily.

"I'm in a good mood," Lorelai said simply.

"Why?" Emily questioned looking at her daughter curiously.

"My god, it's my ninth grade homecoming dance all over again," said Lorelai.

"Homecoming dance?" Rory echoed, confused.

"In ninth grade I got asked to the homecoming dance and I didn't think I would and I was in a really good mood, and Mom got so annoyed that she made me go to my room," Lorelai explained.

Rory turned to her Grandmother for her side of the story. "Grandma?"

"She was sitting at the table giving all the pea's voices," said Emily defensively.

"With a little encouragement, I could have been Senor Wences of the vegetable set," said Lorelai, smiling.

"Lorelai," said Emily, irritated at this point.

"Okay, okay, okay," said Lorelai, sighing dramatically, "it'll come out soon enough. Ladies and gentlemen, I found a dance partner."

Rory smirked. "Someone who could be more then a dance partner," she said.

Lorelai glared at her. "No, it could not, because he is the uncle of one of your best friends, and it would be weird," said Lorelai, "we established that fact."

"I know," said Rory, grinning, "I just love mocking you about it."

"What are you talking about?" Emily demanded. "A dance partner that could be something more?"

"Nothing, Mom," said Lorelai, "our towns just having this dance marathon thing that I want to win and I'm really happy because I found the perfect dance partner for it, who happens to be Lucas's uncle and Rory's making jokes about it."

"It lasts twenty four hours and the last couple left gets a trophy," Rory added, "and Keith, Lucas's uncle who is also Moms partner, kissed Mom a few weeks ago."

"Lorelai!" Emily exclaimed. "Do you know how improper that is? This man is Lucas's uncle. You can't go around doing things like that. What if you were to break up and Rory and Lucas weren't friends anymore because of that? Would that be fair to them?"

Lorelai glared at her daughter. "I'll get you, my pretty," said Lorelai, and then turning to her mother she said, "Mom, relax. Keith and I talked it over last week during Thanksgiving and it's settled. We've established that we're not going to date because we don't want it to be weird for Lucas and Rory."

"Well good," said Emily, "Lucas is a nice young man and it would be horrible if Rory and Lucas weren't friends anymore because of something that you did."

"I know Mom," said Lorelai, annoyed.

"I don't know what you were thinking kissing that man in the first place though," said Emily, "you might have led him on that you were going to be something that you weren't."

Lorelai sighed. "Mom," she said, "I did not lead him on. It was a spur of the moment thing."

"Well, if you say so," said Emily, finally dropping the subject, "I'm glad you found a partner."

"Thank you Mom," said Lorelai, "I'm completely jazzed. What about you Mr. Potatoe? Oh, I'm jazzed too."

Emily shook her head at her daughter's antics. She supposed that Lorelai would never mature. Oh well.

Just then Lorelai's cell phone rang. Emily glared at Lorelai. "What have I told you about leaving this thing at the dinner table?"

"I'm sorry," said Lorelai, "it's just I left Michel in charge of the roofers at the inn, and I told him to call me if anything happened."

Emily turned to Rory. "Is this true?" she asked.

"I'm going to let Mr. Potatoe field this one," said Rory.

"Fine," said Emily, "answer it if you must."

Lorelai smiled and went into the next room to answer the cell phone. "Hello?" she said.

"Lorelai, it's Keith."

"Oh hey Keith," said Lorelai.

"Haley just called me," said Keith.

Lorelai was confused. "Haley called you?" she said. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," said Keith, "but she told me that she's planning on getting Lucas and Rory together at the dance marathon, so she wants you to get Rory to go, and to convince her to be Lucas's partner."

"Rory and Lucas, huh?" said Lorelai. "Well, that's cool. It will be good for those two to get together. I'll handle Rory if you can handle Lucas."

"It's already done," said Keith.

"You work fast," said Lorelai.

"I know," said Keith, sounding proud of himself, "So can you work on Rory?"

"Definitely," said Lorelai.

"Oh," said Keith, "and if Lucas and Rory go missing around about four o' clock at the dance marathon, don't ask. I don't even want to begin to decipher how the mind of Haley James Scott works."

Lorelai chuckled. "Okay, I won't ask," she said.

"Bye Lorelai," said Kieth.

"Bye Keith," said Lorelai.

She hung up the phone and returned to the dining room. "Who was that?" Emily asked.

"Keith," replied Lorelai happy.

"He didn't bail, did he?" Emily questioned. "Because if he bailed, I know some marvelous dancers from the local theater and I'm certain that I could get one of them to be your partner."

"No Mom, he didn't bail," said Lorelai, and then sitting down, she turned to Rory, and said grinning, "Keith doesn't want to go unless Lucas goes because he doesn't want to feel like an idiot so you and Lucas have to be partners at the dance marathon."

"Mom! No, but, I----er…." Rory stammered and Lorelai smiled happily.

"More chicken, please," said Lorelai.

Emily was also smiling for some unknown reason, and passed her daughter some more chicken. "If you'd like, later on you can make the asparagus talk Rory," said Emily to her granddaughter.

Rory muttered, "I'll pass," and poked at her dinner.

Monday Lucas and Rory stood in the Chilton hallway while Lucas waited for Rory to get her books. "So," said Lucas, "Lorelai con you in to be my partner?"

"Yep," said Rory, shoving her books in her bag, "Keith con you in too?"

"Yep," said Lucas.

"Is it just me, or is something going on that we don't know about?" Rory asked.

"I don't think it's just you, Nancy Drew," said Lucas.

"Ten bucks says that its Nathan and Haley," said Rory.

"Agreed," Said Lucas, "or at least just Haley."

Paris then walked up to them and looking at Rory said, "I need to talk to you about Saturday."

"What's Saturday?" Rory asked, confused.

"I think we're skipping the newspaper meeting on Saturday," said Paris, "it's no big deal."

"Paris, are you sick?" said Rory.

"No, not sick, Jamie's in town," said Paris.

"Wow," said Rory, "that's nice."

"Just what I was thinking," said Paris.

"Well, great minds think alike," said Rory, smiling.

"That they do," Paris said, also smiling, "well, I've got to go. Jamie's down visiting from Princeton and we're going to go get some coffee."

"Score," said Rory, "a guy who buys the coffee is a nice guy in my book."

Paris grinned. "I'll see you later," she said, and then turning to Lucas, she said, "bye Lucas."

"Bye Paris," Lucas said.

"Bye Rory," said Paris.

"Bye Paris," Rory said and Paris actually _skipped _off, leaving them.

Rory laughed. "She's happy," said Rory.

"You know, I've heard love can do that to a person," said Lucas.

"Yeah, I have too," said Rory, "the crazy things kids come up with these days."

Lucas chuckled, adjusted his tie, and then put his arm around Rory's shoulders and Rory smiled and closed her locker and then they left the school and drove back to Stars Hollow.

At the house, Lane, Rory, and Lucas sat in the room together. Only Lane was standing up pacing with the phone in her hand and Lucas and Rory were the only one's sitting on the couch.

"I don't see why you can't just talk to him when you call," said Lucas, "I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Don't get me started thinking about that," said Lane, "it's Dave. If I call too many times to talk to him, he'll get annoyed with me and then he won't even want to know that I like him."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I will never understand girls," he said.

"You're a boy, you're not meant to understand these things," said Rory.

"I'm glad I'm not," said Lucas, "although this does explain why Haley would always call someone and hang up during all those times she was acting weird."

Rory chuckled. "She never would tell you when she liked anybody?"

"No," said Lucas, "do you not remember me punching Dean?"

"Yes, I remember that you punched Dean," said Rory.

"Well that's what would have happened had Haley told me that she liked a guy and who it was," said Lucas.

"Ouch," said Rory.

"Lucas," said Lane.

"What?" he said.

"Do me a favor and never get that overprotective of me because I will personally kill you if you punch Dave," said Lane.

Lucas laughed. "No worries," said Lucas, "besides, I think Dave's a cool guy."

Rory asked, "Does anyone want a drink? I'm thirsty, so I'm going to go get something."

"Coke, please," said Lucas.

"Sure," said Rory, "Lane?"

"Too nervous," said Lane, "if I drink anything, I'll pee."

"Too much information!" Lucas exclaimed, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

Rory just laughed and went to the kitchen to go get a drink for her and Lucas. Lane sat down and looked at Lucas to see if he would say anything about her calling Dave and hanging up again.

"I'm just going to stare at my shoes now and keep my mouth shut," said Lucas.

Lane smiled and said, "Thank you." Then she dialed Dave's number, called, and waited impatiently for him to answer so that she could hang up again.

The back door in the kitchen opened while Rory was getting soda's for her and Lucas and in came her Mother carrying two bags. Rory raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"These my dear, are our costumes for the dance marathon," said Lorelai smiling.

"Cool," said Rory, "can I see?"

"Sure," said Lorelai, "yours is the one in the second bag."

Rory grabbed the second bag and looked at the dress. "Wow," she said, "it's amazing Mom."

"I know," said Lorelai, "I've got good taste."

"That you do," said Rory, smiling, "it's a pretty red."

"What's more, Lucas will be speechless when he sees you in it, and because he won't be able to say anything, he'll pick you up, twirl you around, and then stick his tongue down your throat, and you'll stick yours down his, and it'll all be incredibly romantic," said Lorelai, grinning.

"I heard that!" Lucas called from within the living room.

"I was kidding," said Lorelai.

"Sure you were," said Lucas with sarcasm.

**Hour one **

"You're evil," Rory moaned to her Mother at one o' clock in the morning as they walked down the streets of Stars Hollow to Miss Patty's were they would be meeting Lucas, Keith, Nathan, and Haley.

"I'm sorry," said Lorelai, "but it was the only way that I could get Keith to come to the dance marathon."

"I still say Kirk should have been your partner," said Rory, "that way you could both win the trophy. "

"Ah, but if Kirk and I were partners, and we did in fact win, then we'd argue over who would get the trophy," said Lorelai, "it would be worse then battling for child custody."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're a mad woman," she said.

"This, I know," said Lorelai, grinning.

"I can't believe you got me up at one o' clock in the morning," said Rory, "I mean, you, of all people, the person who made me late to my first day of Chilton because you _slept in_."

"Call me a hypocrite all you want, but you know you love me, and that's why you're here too," said Lorelai.

Rory rolled her eyes. "You had better love me too," said Rory, "because trust me, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here at this thing."

They walked up to Miss Patty's where they would get tested to see if they were well enough to participate in the marathon and there they found Lucas, Keith, Nathan, and Haley. Haley was dressed in a pretty white forties dress, and Nathan was dressed as a soldier, as was Lucas and Keith.

"Well, excuse me Miss, but I do declare you're rather pretty," said Lucas to Rory, in a southern accent, "would you do me the pleasure of being my partner for this shindig?"

Rory let out a laugh. "Sure thing, soldier," she said, taking his arm that he had offered.

"Aw," said Lorelai, "that's cute. If only I had a camera."

"No one give her a camera," said Lucas and Rory both, sounding somewhat scared at the idea. Lorelai chuckled evily.

"You two look great," said Haley, in regards to Rory and Lorelai.

"Thanks," said Rory, "you look great too."

"She always does," said Nathan, hugging her. Haley laughed. "Oh please, you are such a suck up Nathan," said Haley.

"No I'm not," said Nathan, and smirking he added; "besides a soldier never lies."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Of course," said Haley, "I'd forgotten. But you're not a real soldier." She pointed out.

"Well, I may not be a real soldier, but I look good in this uniform," said Nathan.

"Aye, aye, captain," Lorelai agreed.

"Lorelai!" said Keith. "The boy's sixteen."

"But he's still nice to look at," said Lorelai.

Keith shook his head. "I won't say a word."

"What?" said Lorelai. "I'm a woman, and I have eyes. If I see something nice, I look at it."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean you have to look at everything nice," said Keith.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, "let's go get tested partner."

Keith shook his head and he and Lorelai went inside the dance studio to get tested. On the way in, the teenagers heard her say, "If its any consolation, you look good in the soldiers outfit too."

"Thanks," said Keith, "but it still freaks me out that you were checking out my nephew."

"So," said Haley to the others, "let's go inside."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "lets."

They went inside to get tested and after that they then went to go and get their numbers. In the gym, they were surprised to find that Jess was there. Lucas and Rory went to go say hi.

"Hey," said Lucas, "what are you doing here? I didn't think that these gigs were your kind of thing."

"Well, there was nothing better to do, so I thought I'd come and watch a couple of crazies dance for twenty-four hours," said Jess.

"Hey," said Rory sounding defensive, "we're not crazy. We got conned into this thing by Lorelai."

"Oh," said Jess, "that explains a lot."

"Yep," said Lucas, "we think Nathan and Haley are up to something."

"You're right, they are," said Jess, "but don't ask me what though. All I know is that last week I saw Haley coming out of Kim's antiques with Lane, and Nathan was hiding behind a bush from Mrs. Kim in the backyard."

"I smell a rat," said Rory.

"Well put," said Lucas, "although I think you might want to change that to, 'I smell two rats'."

"This is going to be a long twenty-four hours," said Rory.

"Agreed," said Lucas.

"Well," said Jess, "just avoid closets."

Rory and Lucas looked at him confused. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas asked.

"I can't tell you anymore then that, young Skywalker," said Jess.

Taylor then said that everyone had to be on the dance floor in order to start the countdown for the twenty four hour marathon to begin and so Rory and Lucas had to leave Jess and they were left to fathom what Nathan and Haley were planning.

**A/N: This chapter will be split into several parts, I don't know how many. It's already nineteen pages long though, and if I go any further, it will end up being a Harry Potter chapter length, like thirty something pages. Speaking of Harry Potter---it comes out Saturday so I might not update for a while because I'll be too busy reading it. Sorry, but I must have my Hp. Not that it matters because I'm certain there are a lot of you who are going to be doing the same----reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for days. **

**Thank you to all you guys. I now have three hundred something reviews! That's amazing. **

**I have to note now though that Tristin won't be in anymore of the story. I just wanted Rory and him to get some closure because I didn't like how he just LEFT no the w.b. so I decided to let them get closure. Lucas and Tristin WON'T meet. **

**Okay, so thank you to: **

**P: Aw, thanks. I try my hardest. Okay, about the Tristin thing. The last sentence in Chapter fourteen clearly states that it will be the last we see of Tristin. Tristin and Lucas will not meet. **

**Nancers: thank you. I'm glad you liked it. Please see the beginning of the a/n for the answer about Tristin and Lucas if you didn't already. **

**Forever cynical: Wow. Someone paid attention to the last sentence. Thank you! As to your question about the chapter title, yeah, I took it from the Sixpence none the richer album. Thanks for what you said about my musical taste. I listen to pretty much everything, but I'm getting more and more into the alternative stuff, such as Sixpence. Or whatever you would call their music type. **

**Cupid's Bride: Aw, P, I'm sorry. But I did already say that it was going to be a Lucas and Rory story and that Tristin was only going to be in that chapter. I warned you. **

**Omeomy: Thank you. Did the update come fast enough? **

**Poetic Angelica: It's alright that you didn't review the last chapter. I'm glad you liked the Tristin thing. That's exactly why I put him in---so she wouldn't have any extra baggage. Now all we need to do is get rid of the Jess stuff. : ) **

**Sum41Rocks: Exactly. Sarcasm is my best friend. : ) My friends have learned that they can just ignore what I say most of the time because I'm usually being sarcastic about it. Yeah, I like Tristin too, but Rory's going to end up with Lucas, soooo…..**

**Soloveable: I agree with you. I love Tristin too. Thanks for reading the chapie, and I'm glad you liked it. : ) **

**Shygirly4eva: Excellent taste in episodes. That's so weird because those episodes are the ones that are all my favorites too. **

**Fairieangel: Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. : ) **

**Gilmoregirla: Yeah, I liked how I finished the Tristin thing too. **

**Love23: Aw, thanks. I don't think I'm brilliant but its nice to know someone does. **

**Lackinglime123: Thanks: )**

**Beautifulbutterfly: Yes, the it being like Christopher's house was one of my favorite parts in the chapter to write. I'm glad that you liked it, and thank you for your compliment on how Tristins family was portrayed. **

**Kylie1403: Yep, that's all of Tristin we'll see in this story. **

**Lkwreader: Aw thanks. I'm glad that you liked the Tristin and Rory interaction and that I was able to make Harrison seem tough. I put in Naley interaction specifically for you! Was there enough in this chapter? I hope so. : ) Tristin and Lucas will NOT meet. **

**Snowyowl-17: Thank you. I liked Tristin different too. No, Lucas and Tristin won't meet, and no, Tristin won't be going to Chilton. He was just suspended from military school for a few days and that's why he was at home. **

**Princetongirl: Thanks. : )**

**Katydid7186: I agree, it sucks that I didn't get to see coldplay. They're one of my favorite bands. Nice to hear that they were good on SNL. Rory and Lucas will get together during the One Tree Hill part of the story, which will start after I put up the Christmas chapter, which will be after I finish the dance marathon part, and do the thanks giving part too. **

**Othlover04: Thanks. : ) **

**KarahBella: Thank you. :) Sorry to disappoint you about that. **

**Okay, this chapter is now incredibly long due to the nearly two pages of reviews that I answered. Thank you, you guys. I appreciate your reviews, and the time you take to review and read the story. It means a lot to me, as I've said like a million times and I'm certain that you're getting annoyed with it by now, but I'm serious. It really does mean a lot to me. When I get back home, I'm going to print every single one and put them somewhere to keep. : ) **

**Thanks so much. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	16. Haley's helping hand

Disclaimer: One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls are both owned by the W.B. I own nothing. I am merely an innocent fan of the show that spends her time writing fanfiction. Please do not sue me.

Chapter sixteen

"Haley's helping hand"

**Hour two **

"Ow," Lucas exclaimed somewhere in between the second hour of the dance marathon, "Rory, that's like the second time that you've stepped on my foot."

"Sorry," she apologized, "it's just that I don't function well this time of day----night----whatever you call it."

Lucas chuckled. "I know what you mean," he said, "but can you try to be a little more careful about my toes? I'd like them in one piece."

"Hey," said Rory, "you just be glad that I don't have on high heals. It could have been two times worse then this."

"Okay, okay," said Lucas, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," said Rory, "just don't get grouchy."

"Me?" said Lucas. "Grouchy? I'm not grouchy."

Rory gave him a pointed look and Lucas sighed. "Okay," he said, "I'll stop being grouchy."

Nathan and Haley watched this exchange. "See?" she said. "They're perfect for each other." Nathan gave Haley an odd look.

"Okay," he said, "how does that conversation they just had mean that they're perfect for each other?"

"I don't know," said Haley, "but look at them dancing. They complete each other."

Nathan shook his head. "Well," he said, "at least you aren't trying to hook up Peyton and Lucas because there's no way Peyton would be caught dead at this thing."

"I've got my ways," said Haley, "I could have done it. Besides, Peyton likes Jake anyway. Not to mention the fact that Lucas and Rory make a cuter couple."

"You're a mad woman, you know that?" said Nathan.

"Yeah," said Haley, "I know. But that's why you love me isn't it?"

"You couldn't count the reasons why I love you," said Nathan and he added, "They're too many of them."

"Hey kids," Lorelai said to them as she danced over with Keith, "so when does operation True Love kick off?"

"Keith," said Haley, "you told her."

"Hey," said Keith, "what did you want me to do? Say that Rory and Lucas might get abducted by alien's part way through the dance marathon?"

"Oh," said Lorelai, "that would have been a good one! Why didn't you tell me that?"

Keith, Nathan, and Haley exchanged glances. "What?" said Lorelai after a moment's silence, "What did I say?"

"Never mind, Lor," said Keith, shaking his head. There were times when he wondered about her sanity. He supposed that he wouldn't be able to understand her no matter how hard he tried.

"Anyone want food or anything?" said Lorelai. "I'm going to take a ten minute break, so if you want something tell me now."

"I'm good," said Keith, "Nathan, Haley, you want something?"

"No thanks," they both said in unison.

"Okay," said Lorelai, "suit your selves." Then turning to Keith she said, warningly, "If you move one foot from this dance floor I will personally send Chucky out to get you."

Keith raised an eyebrow. "You own one of those stupid Chucky dolls?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "and I will take another ten minute break just to run home and get it to kill you."

"Why do you own one of those Chucky dolls?" Nathan asked, confused.

"Because it was the only thing that would scare Rory enough to go to bed when she was little," said Lorelai.

"Motherly," Nathan joked.

"I know," said Lorelai, "but it worked."

"Can you explain to me why nobody has called social services on you yet?" Keith joked.

"Hey," said Lorelai, "do not mock the Chucky doll."

"Right," said Keith.

Lorelai then put up her ten minute yellow card and shouted, "Taken a coffee break Taylor."

"Okay, okay!" Taylor shouted back. "You don't have to be so loud."

"Oh I'm not doing it because I have to," said Lorelai, "I'm doing it because I was born loud naturally."

"Oh, well, that explains everything," Taylor said with sarcasm.

Lorelai chuckled. "I'll be back in a few," she said, and then turning to Haley, she added, in reference to Keith, "watch him like a hawk."

"Will do Lorelai," Haley said, smiling at the woman's antics.

Lorelai with yellow card in hand walked over to where Lucas and Rory were before she went to go get coffee. "Hey," she said, "how are you two doing?"

"Good," said Lucas, "although your daughter here is no Miss Graceful."

"Hey," Rory started to object, "I only stepped on your foot twice."

Lorelai snickered. "You stepped on his foot twice?"

"On accident," said Rory, "I wasn't trying to do it on purpose."

"Well that's good to hear," said Lucas, "I'd be worried if you were trying to step on my foot on purpose."

Lorelai laughed, "Okay you two, enough banter. I'm going to go get some coffee. You two want anything?"

"No thanks," said Lucas.

"Coffee," said Rory, "the drink of the gods. Please, please, please give me coffee."

Lucas shook his head. "You're addicted to that stuff, aren't you?"

"Hey, she is my daughter after all," said Lorelai smiling, "have fun you two, and try not to step on poor Lucas's feet. I'm going to go get our coffee."

"Okay," they both said.

Lorelai went off to go and get some coffee from Luke. "Hey," she said, "how you holding up?"

"I'm cursing Taylor to eternal damnation, so I'm doing good," said Luke, "you think Mrs. Kim might be able to put a word in with God to make Taylor get zapped by lightening or something?"

Lorelai looked at him like he was mad. "Okay," said Lorelai, "but you know that Mrs. Kim and I have never exactly been on good terms."

"Yeah, well," said Luke, "at least try. I'd really appreciate it."

"Will do," said Lorelai, "just give me two cups of coffee."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Two cups of coffee?" said Luke. "You only need one."

"No I don't," said Lorelai, "I need two because I need one for Rory as well. Really, Luke, I'm ashamed that you would think that I would be so greedy as to take two cups of coffee just for myself."

"Well," said Luke, "the way you guzzle the stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Coffee, please," she said, "because I might just go mad and decide to slice your throat."

Luke smirked. "No you wouldn't," he said, "I've got the coffee, so you can't slice my throat."

"Evil," said Lorelai.

"Yeah well, Voldermont was evil, and he was cunning too," said Luke, "so I'm not only evil, but I'm also cunning."

Lorelai stuck out her tongue. "Hand over the coffee, Voldy, or I'm going to Avada Kedavra you."

"Funny," said Luke, "alright, you've got your coffee."

He poured her two cups of coffee and handed them to her. "Thank you, Voldy," she said smiling.

"Eh," said Luke, "J.K would be disturbed by you calling Voldermont Voldy."

"Yeah, well," said Lorelai, "I'm a disturbing person."

Lorelai smiled and went back onto the dance floor and gave Rory her cup of coffee. "Thank you," said Rory, drinking deeply but still holding on to Lucas as the rules stated that they had to.

"Welcome," said Lorelai, grinning.

"Hey," said Lucas, "do you know why Jess told us earlier that we were supposed to be avoiding closets?"

Lorelai tried her best to hide any sign that she knew anything. "Nope," she lied, "none at all."

"Okay," said Lucas, "we were just wondering."

"Huh," said Lorelai, "weird thing to wonder, but okay." She then quickly darted through the people with her coffee back to Keith.

"Hey," said Keith, "so I didn't go off the dance floor so does that mean I escape the wrath of Chucky?"

Lorelai danced with him, taking a sip of her coffee and grinning. "Yep," she said, "you escape the wrath of Chucky."

"So," said Keith, "how's the coffee?"

"Excellent," said Lorelai, "are you sure that you don't want any?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling, "I'm sure."

Luke Danes watched Lorelai dancing with Keith from his little coffee stand, beady little eyes glaring at him. He really didn't like that guy. Sighing, he shook his head, and thought, It's going to be a long twenty four hours.

**Hour three **

Lane Kim did not want to be stuck sitting here. Where she really wanted to be was inside the dance marathon. She wanted to be inside the dance marathon enjoying it with Rory, Lucas, Haley, and Nathan.

Instead however she was stuck helping her Mom making these God awful sandwiches. Really, she didn't understand why her Mom even bothered making more of them. No one was taking them.

Okay, well, people were taking them, but they just weren't eating them. Lane sighed and continued stirring the stupid stuff that went inside the sandwiches.

"Keep stirring Lane," said Mrs. Kim, "people will want more sandwiches."

"Yes Mama," Lane said reluctantly.

Lane didn't really want to keep on stirring the sandwiches. In fact, she wanted to take a break. Her arm was killing her because of so much stirring.

Ugh, she thought, I don't want to be here. I want to be anywhere but here. I want to be…I want to be at band practice, with Dave. I want to be anywhere with Dave. I would settle for being in a disgusting sewer right now as long as Dave was there.

"I didn't even know I needed it, but I found love, I didn't even know I'd tried," she sung the song softly under her breath so as for her Mother not to hear it. If she knew that Lane was singing anything but Christian songs she would be grounded for a month.

"What's that you're muttering Lane?" Mrs. Kim demanded.

"Nothing Mama," Lane lied.

Mrs. Kim looked at her as though she didn't quite believe her and then kept on making more sandwiches. God, what was up with that? There were already enough sandwiches. She didn't need to make anymore.

Lane could never exactly understand why her Mom insisted on making weird food. But then again Lane didn't understand a single thing about her Mother, just like her Mother didn't understand her.

Or at least the real her.

Sure, Mrs. Kim understood the good, perfect Korean daughter Lane, but she didn't understand the American teenager rock music listening Lane. Suddenly there was a tap on Lane's shoulder making her jump. She turned around expecting to see Nathan or Haley but found that it wasn't either.

Instead, it was Dave.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said, smiling, trying not to make it too obvious that she was incredibly happy to see him, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that I got us a gig," said Dave.

Lane's smile widened. "Really?" she said. "A gig? You're serious?"

"Dead serious," said Dave smiling.

"Cool," said Lane, "that's awesome."

"I thought so too," said Dave, "I would have called and left a message at Rory's, but I wanted to tell you directly."

"Thanks," said Lane, "I'm glad you did. It was good to see you."

"So," said Dave, "what's this shin dig for?"

"Oh," said Lane, "it's a twenty-four hour dance marathon. I'm stuck on food duty though."

"Bleh," said Dave, "that sucks. Twenty-four hours?"

"Yep," said Lane, "long hours of stirring, stirring, and more stirring."

"What is that, exactly?" said Dave.

"You don't want to know," said Lane.

"Right, well, I won't venture down that road," said Dave.

"Good," said Lane, "because you really don't want to know."

"Noted," Said Dave, "so the gigs next Saturday."

"Cool," said Lane, "what time?"

"Oh," said Dave, "it starts at eight and goes to nine. It would be longer, but they wanted a band, and a D.J. so the party gets a band the first hour and a D.J. the second."

"Still, that's awesome," said Lane.

"I know," said Dave, "the bands stoked."

"I'd imagine so," said Lane, "because I am too."

"That's good," said Dave.

Lane and Dave stood there looking at each other for a moment in awkward silence. Neither one of them new what to say----they couldn't exactly talk about much else.

Silently Lane wondered if Dave liked her or if she was just deluded by a crush. Of course, hadn't Rory and Dean started out this way? Neither one of them admitting to the other that they both liked each other---just sending subtle hints?

Oh my god, she thought, what if Dave hasn't gotten any of my subtle hints? I mean, maybe I'm being too subtle. Maybe I should be a little more obvious. But I can't be that obvious. If I'm too obvious then he'll know that I like him and that could be good or bad considering that he may or may not like me. Oh my god! My subtle hints could be worth nothing.

"Lane," said Dave.

Lane came plummeting back down to earth out of her fretful thoughts. "Dave," she said.

"I…" Dave started, "I wanted to tell you something…"

Okay, Lane thought, this is it. He's going to tell me that he likes me after all. There was no point in worrying about my being too subtle. I was being subtle just right.

"Yes?" said Lane, smiling hopefully.

"I wanted to…" Dave drifted off as though searching for the right words to phrase what he wanted to say. "I wanted to say that I really, really…"

Come on, thought Lane, come on, you can say it. Please say it. The sooner you say it the less I have to worry about my subtle or not so subtle hints that I give you.

"What?" Lane asked. "C'mon, you can tell me."

"Oh," said Dave, "I know. I wanted to say that, I really, really…" he trailed off again.

Lane wished that he would stop doing that. She wanted him to get it out in the open. How hard could it be to say?

"I wanted to say that you're an awesome drum player," Dave blurted out quickly.

Lane could have shot herself then and there. The only problem was of course the there was no gun around. "Oh," she said, trying not to sound disappointed, "thanks I guess."

"Yeah, well," said Dave, "I just wanted to tell you that."

"Well," said Lane, "I'm glad that you think I'm an awesome drum player."

"And I'm glad you know," said Dave.

Just then Mrs. Kim came up to them. She glared at Dave. "Who are you?" she demanded.

Dave looked somewhat terrified. "I'm…" he started…"I'm Dave."

"Dave?" said Mrs. Kim.

"Yep," said Dave, "I'm Dave."

"What are you doing here, Dave?" Mrs. Kim asked.

"I came to get sandwiches," said Dave, "you know, I'm participating in the dance marathon and all. I was hungry."

Why? Lane thought. Why God are you doing this to me? Is it because of the rock music? I mean, you created the rock music yourself because you create everything so don't try telling me that it's because of the rock music.

"Oh," said Mrs. Kim, "well, take some."

Dave quickly took two sandwiches. He took a bite of one and said, "Mmmm. Good."

Lane looked at him curiously. He swallowed and smiled at her. She had to hand it to him; he was a very good liar.

"So," said Dave, "sorry to intrude. I was just talking to Lane here about church."

Mrs. Kim looked at him suspiciously. "You go to church?" said Mrs. Kim.

"Yep," said Dave, "I go to church."

"That's good," said Mrs. Kim, "church is something that all people should attend."

"Yes," said Lane, "isn't it nice that there's a teenage boy who goes to church Mama?"

"Very nice," said Mrs. Kim, and she looked at him and said, "you must sit in our pew sometime Dave."

"Well, I would like that very much," said Dave, "because I enjoy church so much."

"Good," said Mrs. Kim, "any Sunday, you are welcome to sit in the Kim pew with us."

Lane could hardly believe this was happening. Her Mother never invited someone to sit in their pew unless she really, really, liked them. Oh my god, she thought, thank you, thank you, thank you. This is excellent!

Dave smiled. "Well, thank you," he said, "Mrs…?"

"Mrs. Kim," said Lane's Mom. Lane couldn't stop smiling.

"Thank you for the invitation Mrs. Kim," said Dave, "I will be going now. Nice meeting you, Lane and Mrs. Kim. I'll be certain to take that offer of sitting in your pew with you."

Mrs. Kim smiled happily as Dave left. "I hope he comes back," she said, "he seemed hungry."

Lane simply grinned. "I hope he comes back to," she said.

Lane couldn't help but silently thank her lucky stars about her good fortune. Thank you God, she thought, really meaning it.

Hour four

"So I think we should get started on the plan," Haley announced as she and Nathan danced.

"Haley," said Nathan, "it's four o' clock in the morning. I think that if we're going to lock them in the closet, we should at least wait another hour."

"We agreed at four though," Haley said.

"You and Lane agreed, you mean," said Nathan pointedly, "I didn't want to go through with the plan in the first place because I still think that the two of them aren't ready to date."

"Okay, okay," said Haley, "so maybe it was only Lane and I who planned it but come on. It was part of the vows that you help me."

"Yes," said Nathan, "it was. But I wasn't aware that there was anywhere in the vows that it said that you had to help the wife with the crazy matchmaking schemes."

"I'm going to have them change that," said Haley, "it should be part of the vows."

"Well I don't think God intended for people to help other people get together," said Nathan pointedly, "I'm guessing that he wanted people to get together on their own time, without any help at all. Look at Romeo and Juliet."

"Charming comparison," said Haley with sarcasm, "they both died. And you know why they both died?"

"Because they were distraught with grief and thought that the other one had died even though they really hadn't?" said Nathan.

"Okay, true," said Haley, "but they also died because they didn't have any help from their friends. Had they had help from their friends, then they wouldn't have ended up dying."

"Yes, but Shakespeare intended for them to die," said Nathan.

"Well, that's because he's a man," said Haley, "now had a woman wrote it, like say, Jane Austen, Emma Woodhouse would have popped in and helped the happy couple and then they could have lived happily ever after."

"But that's not how it works," said Nathan, "you can't force people to get together."

"If you arrange a marriage, you can," said Haley.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean that they will love each other," said Nathan, "look, I still say that we should just drop the entire thing and if Lucas and Rory are meant to be then they'll get together on their own time."

"If we let them get together on their own time, then they won't be together until we're in senior year of college," said Haley.

"Well, senior year of college might be the right year for them to get together," said Nathan.

"Senior year of college Rory could be engaged," said Haley, "and headed down the isle to be married to the wrong guy."

Nathan shook his head. "Okay Emma Woodhouse," he said, "but at least let them have a few hours to get woken up before you go and let them have an adventure in the closet."

"Fine," said Haley, "but only to build up the sexual tension."

Nathan chuckled and then simply spun her around and they continued to dance. He was surprised that they had already lasted this long. Nathan had thought that his feet would be killing him by now, but surprisingly they weren't.

He loved being here with Haley. Stars Hollow was a neat little place and he could see himself ending up here after college. Maybe this was where he and Haley would end up growing old together.

Nathan smiled at the thought. Haley looked at him and noticed how happy he was. "What're you smiling about?" she said, raising an eyebrow and looking at him curiously.

"Nothing," he said, "I was just daydreaming."

"And what were you daydreaming about?" she asked.

"You of course," said Nathan smiling and Haley grinned.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," said Nathan and they kept on dancing and as they danced Nathan kept on thinking about that image of their future in his head and he couldn't help but feel happy.

He was glad that he had Haley. She was his everything.

Nathan danced with her and he looked over at Lucas and Rory as he did. Lucas was laughing at something Rory had said. He smirked. Maybe Haley was right. Maybe it would be a good thing if Lucas and Rory were together.

If Haley could make him this happy then everyone deserved to be this happy, especially his older brother. He only hoped that Haley was right about Rory being the one for Lucas.

It would really suck if she wasn't and the two of them ended up breaking up and then they couldn't be friends anymore because Rory had done Lucas more good then she knew.

Meanwhile, Lorelai danced with Keith, keeping a close eye on the teenagers. "Will you quite on looking over there?" said Keith. "They'll make their move when they make they're move."

"I know, I know," said Lorelai, "I just wish they'd hurry up and get it done. I mean, I want Lucas and Rory together now."

"You're not the only one," said Keith, "Rory has been really good to Lucas."

Lorelai looked at him oddly and asked, "How so?"

"Well he came to Stars Hollow to get away from everything at Tree Hill," said Keith, "the basketball thing I think kind of went to his head. She helped him get back to the old Lucas that he was, the one who just played for the river court and didn't know what popularity was."

"Aw," said Lorelai, "well I'm glad she was able to be of service."

"Yeah well," said Keith, "she wasn't the only Gilmore Girl who helped a Scott Boy."

"Wow," said Lorelai, "I helped Lucas too. And pray how did I do that?"

Keith chuckled. "I wasn't talking about Lucas," said Keith, "I was talking about you helping me."

"And how'd I help you, Mr. Scott?" Lorelai asked, smiling.

"You helped me deal with the baggage I'd left at Tree Hill too," said Keith.

"What baggage did you leave at Tree Hill?"

"It's a long story," Keith said, "I'd rather not go into it. It might last the entire dance marathon."

"All Tree Hill stories are long," said Lorelai, "I think I can sit through yours."

"Okay," said Keith, "well, when I was a teenager, I fell in love with Lucas's Mom, Karen, but naturally never got a chance with her because she was dating Dan, my brother, who is the jerk-off Father to Lucas. Last year, Karen went away to Italy, and kissed me at the air port before she went."

"Oooh," said Lorelai, "juicy-----of course, all Tree Hill stories are I've come to learn."

Keith chuckled and continued, "When she got back, I proposed to her, but she said no because Lucas and I had gotten into a car wreck and I was drunk and Karen wasn't too happy about that."

"A car wreck?" said Lorelai. "Woah. Lucas left that part out about his last year in Tree Hill."

"Yeah, well…" said Keith, and then he kept on going, "Karen naturally wasn't happy because of it, and then she wouldn't talk to me. I sold my auto-shop so that Lucas's medical bills could be paid."

"Wow," said Lorelai, "that must have been a big sacrifice to you."

"Yeah, it was," said Keith, "considering the fact that I had to sell it to my brother."

"Oh," said Lorelai, "that really sucks."

"Yeah," said Keith, "it does. Of course I screwed things up and made it even worse because I ended up…well…"

Lorelai looked at him curiously. "You ended up what?"

"I ended up sleeping with Dan's wife," Keith admitted.

"Oh," said Lorelai, "well, at least you got payback."

"Yeah," said Keith, "not a good kind though. He got me back anyway. The bastard went and had a heart attack after I left."

"Is he alright?" Lorelai asked.

"Heh," said Keith, "no heart attack is going to kill Dan Scott. The only way that bastard is going to die is if someone else kills him. Even then he'll find someway to screw up everybody's life."

"He sounds like the devil," said Lorelai.

"That he is," said Keith, "I'm thinking of sending him horns for his birthday and a pitchfork for Christmas."

"That would be very fitting," Lorelai agreed, and she added, "so how did I help you, Scott boy?"

"You helped me have the guts to go back and have another shot with Karen," said Keith.

"Wow," said Lorelai, "my skill amazes me. So, you're not planning on going anytime soon, are you?"

"I was thinking of going on Christmas," said Keith, "she shouldn't have to spend the holiday alone. I might take Lucas with me if he wants to go."

"Aw," said Lorelai, "that'd be good for him to be spending Christmas with his family."

"Well," said Keith, "even if he doesn't go with me, he'll be spending Christmas with family anyway."

Lorelai looked at him oddly. "Really?" she said. "Nathan and Haley are staying for Christmas?"

"No," said Keith, "they're going back to Tree Hill the day after the dance marathons finished. I was talking about you and Rory."

Then it dawned on her what Keith meant and she smiled. "I'm glad you consider us family, Keith," she said.

"Well, you're better then the one we've got," said Keith, "at least from Dan's side."

Lorelai chuckled and they kept on dancing. They then accidentally bumped into Kirk on the dance floor. "Lorelai," Kirk said curtly.

"Kirk," she returned angrily.

Keith simply laughed and danced her away from her arch nemesis. "You know," said Keith, "it would have made a lot more sense if you and him had just----"

"Don't you even finish that sentence," said Lorelai and Keith just shook his head and kept on dancing.

Hour five

"I can't believe you slept with him," came the voice of Andrew. It was that time of the dance marathon. Andrew and his date were getting in a fight. Lucas and Rory looked at the two in interest.

"Huh," said Rory, "it's happening earlier this year. It usually happens at hour eleven."

Lucas looked at her. "You mean Andrew gets into a fight with his date every year?"

"Yep," said Rory, "every year---it used to happen exactly when hour eleven started but I guess that he didn't pick a good one at all this time."

Lucas chuckled. "Poor guy," he said, "no luck with the ladies."

"None what so ever," said Rory.

"Andrew," Andrew's date was now saying, "look, it was five years ago. It was before I even knew you."

"Yes," said Andrew, "but you said that I was your first."

"Really," said the lady, "you think that at twenty-eight, you were my first?"

"Well…" said Andrew, "you told me that I was."

"Jokingly," said his date, "I didn't think that you would believe that I was actually serious."

"Poor Andrew," said Rory, joking, "he'll never find his paradise."

"Ah, well," said Lucas, "some people just aren't meant to be together with anyone."

"And what about you, Lucas Scott?" Rory asked. "Do you think that you're one of those people?"

"I don't know," said Lucas, "I mean, I don't want to end up alone."

"Well," said Rory, "just don't become like Harry Potter and end up having a 'saving people' thing otherwise you will end up alone."

"And how do you know?" Lucas asked.

"I know," said Rory, "just because I know. I mean, look at Clark Kent, Peter Parker, and Bruce Wayne. They all pretty much end up alone."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "but they do end up having pretty amazing love lives."

Rory chuckled. "Just don't end up having the hero complex thing," said Rory, "you might find someone and then you won't want to end up alone like Harry is destined to end up alone."

"Okay, okay," said Lucas, "I solemnly swear that I will not end up like Harry Potter and Andrew and be alone."

"Good," said Rory, "I'm glad that we've got that covered."

"Okay," said Lucas, "I swore that I wouldn't end up alone, but what about you Miss Gilmore?"

Rory chuckled. "Well," she said, "I've always got Tristin to fall back on. He did say that he wouldn't mind having a chance."

"Poor guy," said Lucas, "second best, huh?"

"Well only if I don't find my soul mate," said Rory.

"You know," said Lucas, "Dawson and Joey were soul mates and look how they turned out."

"Okay," said Rory, "don't ruin the soul mate thing for me. I like the idea of a soul mate."

"But what about Max Evans and Liz Parker?" said Lucas. "They weren't soul mates and yet they ended up together."

"Well, technically, Liz wasn't Max's soul mate," said Rory, "but if you think about it she kind of was. I mean, Tess may have been alien Max's soul mate, but Liz could have been human Max's soul mate."

"That makes sense I guess," said Lucas, "so I guess the soul mate thing can work."

"Exactly," said Rory, "I mean, it's the same with Dawson and Joey. Joey may have been Dawson's soul mate but I think Dawson was Jen's soul mate which is why they didn't work. Joey was Pacey's soul mate even though technically she was Dawson's soul mate so that's why Joey and Pacey worked."

"Don't you find it weird that we're analyzing television shows?" said Lucas.

"Would you rather that we analyzed each other?" Rory asked.

Lucas thought about this and then said, "No."

"Exactly what I thought," said Rory smiling.

"Okay," said Lucas, "so how about we make a deal so that Tristin doesn't end up having to play second best."

Rory looked at him quizzically. "What kind of a deal?"

"If we aren't married by the time that we're twenty five, then the two of us will get married," said Lucas.

Rory smiled. "Okay," she said, "that works for me."

"Works for me too," said Lucas, "we should make a contract later." Rory laughed.

"Whatever you say, Lucas," she said smiling, "but let's hold that off for later. I'm going to use my yellow card because I really need to go to the bathroom."

Lucas laughed. "Okay," he said, "go ahead. I'll save our spot here on the dance floor."

"Good," said Rory, smiling, and she put up her yellow card, and yelled, "taking a break, Taylor!"

Taylor made no response and Rory went to the girls bathroom. Once inside, she was surprised to see one of her old friends Lindsay. They hadn't been exactly the best of friends at Stars Hollow, but they had been friends, never the less.

"Oh hi Rory," said Lindsay when she noticed her, "how are you?"

"I'm good," said Rory, "how about you?"

"Good," said Lindsay, and she added almost as an after thought, "we miss you at school you know."

"Oh thanks," said Rory, "I miss you guys too."

"So," said Lindsay, "how's that private school treating you?"

"It's good," said Rory, "I'd talk to you more, but I've only got ten minutes and I've used like five of them and I've really got to go pee."

Lindsay laughed. "Okay then," she said, "the coffee getting to you?"

"Surprisingly no," said Rory, "but I've really got to go pee."

"Okay," said the blond girl, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," said Rory, "later."

Rory quickly went into a bathroom stall while Lindsay left. It was weird to see one of her old friends from Stars Hollow High. The only one that she talked to anymore was Lane.

Finished going to the bathroom, Rory was surprised to find that Lindsay turning the corner from the bathroom with someone who looked oddly like Dean and the person who looked oddly like Dean had his arm around Lindsay's shoulder.

"Hey," said the guy's voice and Rory was surprised to register that it was in fact Dean's, "what took you so long?"

"Oh," said Lindsay, "I ran into Rory in there."

"Yeah?" said Dean. "What'd you guys talk about?"

"Nothing much," said Lindsay, "I was just telling her how much the girls at school and I miss her being there."

"Well it was nice that you got to catch up with her," said Dean, and then he added, "c'mon, lets go."

"Yeah," said Lindsay, "let's."

The two left, and Rory had thankfully gone unnoticed by them. She suddenly felt awkward. It was weird to know that Dean had a new girlfriend now. Not that she cared that he was dating again; Rory had just always assumed that she would be dating someone new before him.

Sighing, Rory shook her head and quickly jetted to the dance floor not wanting her and Lucas to get kicked off. When she returned, Lucas noted the odd look on her face.

"Hey," he said, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said, trying to convince herself that she was too.

Lucas shook his head. "Rory," he said, "you are good at many things but lying is not one of them."

Rory sighed. "I don't feel like talking about it Lucas," she said, "I'll tell you about it later though, I promise."

"Okay," said Lucas, "you had better."

"Don't worry," said Rory, smiling slightly, "I will."

Rory and Lucas kept on dancing but Rory's thoughts kept on turning back to Dean and Lindsay. She decided that when she got another chance, she would go and take another ten minute break and ask Lane why she hadn't told her about Dean dating Lindsay.

She wasn't bugged by it she just wished that she would have known sooner so that it wouldn't have come as such a shocker to her. After all, she didn't go to Stars Hollow High anymore.

It wasn't like she could find out these things through the grapevine.

Rory wished she would stop thinking about it but she couldn't help herself. Dean and Lindsay? God, she thought, I should have been dating before him. People probably think that I haven't moved on because I'm not dating yet.

Lucas noticed that Rory was acting weird and wondered if it had something to do with Dean. He had seen him slinking around the place with a blond but he didn't think that he would actually approach Rory.

If he causes any trouble, Lucas thought, I swear I'm going to punch him again.

Lucas held Rory a little closer much to Rory's surprise but she wasn't complaining. It was actually nice dancing with Lucas. Neither of them was that great but they weren't horrible.

She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder; it was a slow dance after all. Lucas was a little surprised by this sudden gesture but he wasn't about to complain.

Both wouldn't say it but both of them were thinking it.

They were blissfully happy.

**Hour Six **

Lorelai Gilmore felt her foot slipping unannounced. "Oh crud," she said and Keith looked at her concerned.

"What happened?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Lorelai, "my heal just broke."

"What did you wear heals for in the first place?" Keith questioned.

"Well, I wanted to make the outfit complete," said Lorelai, "so I figured if I was supposed to dress up as a person from the forties, then I was going to get the whole set of things."

"So, what you got shoes that were from the forties too?" Keith joked.

"Yes," said Lorelai, "and do not mock. It is not my fault that they broke. The lady at the store said that they hadn't been worn a lot."

"A shoe worn some in forty years is a lot for a forty-year-old shoe," said Keith pointedly.

"Meh," said Lorelai, "I'm going to go ask Luke if he has some way to fix my shoe. I'm taking a ten minute break. You stay here or else I'll---"

"Sick Chucky on me," said Keith, "I know, I know."

Lorelai grinned. "Smart boy," she said, "you learn fast."

"Well, when you've got a bookworm for a nephew like Lucas, you've got to," said Keith.

Lorelai informed Taylor that she was taking yet again another ten minute break and then went over to Luke's to go and get it fixed. "My shoe broke, can you fix it?" Lorelai asked as soon as she got over to Luke's coffee stand.

Luke looked at her oddly. "Do I look like a cobbler to you?" he said as more of a rhetorical question.

"If I say yes, will you fix it?" said Lorelai.

Luke shook his head. "Give the shoe to me," he said, "I've got some glue over at the diner. That maybe able to help it."

"Thank you," said Lorelai, "I love glue! Wonderful, wonderful glue."

Luke shook his head and he went off to the diner to go and get the glue, taking the shoe with him. Lorelai stood by the coffee stand waiting for him to return when Sookie came up.

"Lorelai," said Sookie, "I've got a problem."

Lorelai looked at her concerned. "Sookie honey, what is it?" she asked. "Do you need me to call the medics or something?"

"No," she answered, "it's a personal problem."

"Well, then, tell me what it is," said Lorelai, "doctor Lorelai is open up for business."

"Thanks," said Sookie, and she started to say something, but then noted Lorelai's bare foot, "what happened to your other shoe?"

"Not important," said Lorelai, "tell me what happened."

"Well," said Sookie, "Jackson and I were talking about how many kids we wanted last night over dinner."

"Oh that's good honey," said Lorelai, "it's nice that you want kids."

"I know," said Sookie, "but I sort of agreed to something kind of crazy."

"How crazy?" Lorelai asked looking at her friend concerned.

"Well," said Sookie, "I agreed that I would have four over four."

Lorelai looked at her like she was insane. "What's that mean?"

"Four over four," Sookie repeated, "it means that I agreed to have four kids within four years."

"Oh my god," said Lorelai, "Sookie, what were you thinking?"

"I don't know," said Sookie, "but evidently I wasn't. It's just Jackson brought up the subject and I was caught kind of off guard."

"Apparently," said Lorelai, "you've got to go tell him that you can't do that. That's just nuts."

"I know it is," said Sookie, "four kids in four years. That's just insane and I don't know what possessed me to say it but I said it and I guess now I've got to go and take back what I said."

"Yes," said Lorelai, "do you realize that would mean going four years without a drink?"

"Eehh," said Sookie, "I hadn't thought about that."

"Well that's one of the reasons that you've got to go and tell Jackson that you can't do that," said Lorelai.

"Okay," said Sookie, "thanks Lorelai."

"You're welcome," said Lorelai, smiling, "now go straighten Jackson out."

"That I will," said Sookie and she went to go and talk to her husband about the problem at hand.

At this point, Luke returned with the shoe. "Hey," he said, "I fixed it. Was that Sookie that I just saw leaving?"

"Yes," said Lorelai, "and thank you for fixing my shoe."

"You're welcome," said Luke, "so what did Sookie want?"

"Oh," said Lorelai, "just some advice on a problem. She did a crazy thing and agreed to Jackson's idea of having four kids within four years."

"Oh man," said Luke, "that is crazy. She isn't actually going to go through with it, is she?"

"Nope," said Lorelai, "she's going to go and talk to Jackson right now."

"That's good," said Luke, "because that would just be plain crazy to actually go through with it."

"I know," said Lorelai.

"I never liked kids," said Luke.

"Ah," said Lorelai, "you don't look like the type that would."

"I know," said Luke, "they're annoying, and messy, and they've got a funky smell. You got lucky though. You got Rory."

"Yeah," said Lorelai, "I did get lucky." She smiled and looked at the direction where Rory and Lucas were dancing together. Rory looked happy and she and Lucas were talking. She hoped that Haley and Lane's plan to get those two together worked.

"So," said Luke after a moment, "is anything happening between Rory and that Lucas kid?"

"I don't know," said Lorelai, "they would make a cute couple though, wouldn't they?"

"Yeah," said Luke, "they would. And uh, you know, I always did like that name Lucas."

Lorelai chuckled. "Of course you would," she said.

"Well, you want to take your shoe now?" said Luke.

"Oh yeah," said Lorelai and she took it from him and slipped it on. "Thank you once again."

"You're welcome, again," said Luke, and then he added, "You know, as much as I don't like kids, I wouldn't mind having them if the right person came around."

"Huh," said Lorelai smiling, "that's nice to know."

"Well," said Luke, "you'd better get back if you want to get that trophy. Your ten minute break is almost up."

"Okay," said Lorelai and she went back to where Keith was and the two of them started to dance again.

"So," said Keith, "you get your shoe fixed?"

"Yep," said Lorelai, "it's amazing the things that glue can do."

"Are you ready to keep on dancing?" said Keith.

"Of course," said Lorelai, "and I don't plan on stopping."

"Good to hear," said Keith, "after all, I know you want that big shiny trophy and all."

Lorelai chuckled. "And hopefully the trophy isn't the only good thing that will happen tonight," she said, "hopefully Lucas and Rory will get together."

"Yeah," said Keith, "I hope so too."

"It'll be good," said Lorelai, and she added, "I'm really glad that you and Lucas came around."

"Really," said Keith, surprised, "why?"

"Because if Lucas hadn't," Lorelai smiled, "then Rory would probably still be with Dean right now and there would be this big huge dramatic scene at the dance marathon that would end up with Rory and Dean breaking up and Rory and Jess would then get together and as much as I've realized that Jess is a nice kid, I just wouldn't trust him with Rory."

"And you trust Lucas with Rory?" said Keith.

"Completely," said Lorelai.

"That's good to hear," said Keith, smiling, "Lucas will be happy to know that." He twirled Lorelai and the two smiled at each other when she came around again.

**Hour seven **

"Okay," said Haley, "my feet are killing me and I think that Lucas and Rory should be locked in the closet now."

"Okay," said Nathan, "so I take it you don't want to win the contest?"

"Are you kidding?" said Haley. "I have no desire to win the contest. I just want to get Rory and Luke together."

Nathan chuckled. "Alright then," he said, "you go and get Lane, and I'll tell Lucas that I need him to meet me at the coat closet."

"Okay," said Haley, "and then I'll come back and I'll tell Rory that I need help looking for my coat too."

"And then you and Rory will meet Lucas and I at the coat closet," said Nathan.

"Yes," said Haley, "and then we will get them inside the coat closet, and then quickly get out of there and Lane will close and lock the door."

"Haley," said Nathan, "you don't think anyone will be mad about not being able to get their coat, do you?"

"No," said Haley, "I told Taylor Doose and Miss Patty about the plan too and they smiled and agreed to keep people away from the coat closet for as long as they possibly could."

Nathan looked at her impressed. "You really thought this thing through didn't you?"

"Oh but of course," said Haley smiling.

He kissed her on the forehead. "Emma Woodhouse would be incredibly proud right now," he said.

"Thank you," said Haley, grinning at her husband.

Haley and Nathan then went off in their opposite directions. Haley went to go find Lane who was still stirring the stuff for the sandwiches. "Lane," said Haley, "it's time to get operation True Love in action."

Lane smiled happily. "Is Nathan getting Lucas?" she asked.

"Yes," said Haley, "you have to go and meet him at the closet. I'm going to go and get Rory."

"Okay," said Lane, "let me go and tell my Mom and then we can go."

Lane went over to where Mrs. Kim stood. "Mama," said Lane, "I'm going to go help my friend Haley with something, okay?"

Mrs. Kim looked at her, suspicious. "It doesn't have anything to do with a boy, does it?" she asked.

"No Mama," said Lane, and it was sort of the truth. It did have to do with boys, just not in the way that Mrs. Kim thought that it had to do with.

Mrs. Kim sighed and said, "Go ahead, but don't take too long. I need someone to stir the mix for the sandwiches."

"Okay," said Lane, "don't worry. I'll only be gone for a few."

"Alright," said Mrs. Kim, "be careful."

"I will Mama," Lane assured her and then she and Haley exited Miss Patty's and went back into Stars Hollow high.

Lane smiled. "This is so exciting," she said, "it feels like we're in a James Bond movie."

"Only instead of saving the world, we're matchmaking," said Haley.

"Exactly," said Lane.

"Okay," said Haley, "I'm going to go and get Rory."

"Alright," said Lane, "I'm going to go find Nathan."

"I'll see you in a few, Lane," said Haley.

"Yep," said Lane and she went off in her direction and Haley went off in search of Rory.

"Hey," said Haley to the girl, "you weren't planning on winning this thing were you?"

"No," said Rory, "why do you ask?"

"Nathan and Lucas are having trouble finding our coats," said Haley, "can you please come and help us?"

"Yeah sure," said Rory, "I don't mind. Although Mom will be sorely disappointed now because she has no chance what so ever of getting a hold of that really big shiny trophy that she wants so badly."

Haley chuckled, "I'm certain your Mom won't mind."

"Well," said Rory, "at least this will give Lucas and I an excuse to get out of here. You want to come with us and hang out when we leave?"

"Nah," said Haley, "we're going to go to the inn and pack our stuff for the drive home tomorrow and then get some sleep."

Rory smirked. "Sleep or sleep _sleep_?" Rory asked suggestively.

Haley chuckled. "That is none of your business," said Haley, "now come on let's go help Lucas and Nathan look for the coats."

"Okay," said Rory and the two girls went off to the coat closet.

Once there, Rory and Haley went in and they found Lucas and Nathan searching through the coats. "Are you sure it's here Man?" Lucas asked.

"I'm positive," said Nathan, "how hard can it be to find it? It's my letterman's jacket, and I'm positive that it's not going to blend in with the ones from Stars Hollow."

Lucas laughed. "Okay man," he said.

It was then that he noticed something odd. "Hey Rory," he said, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh," said Rory, "Haley wanted me to help you guys look for coats."

Lucas looked at her oddly. "Haley," said Lucas, "you said that your coat was in the car so you didn't need to look for it."

Haley suddenly looked guilty. "Did I?" said Haley. "Well, then I guess I don't need to find it after all."

Lucas and Rory exchanged looks. Jess's warning about staying away from closets suddenly echoed in their heads. Both of their eyes widened, and they looked at each other and they both headed for the door, but Haley and Nathan darted out faster then the two of them and Lane who had appeared out of no where, closed the door.

"Nathan," said Lucas, "open up the door man. This isn't funny."

Nathan laughed. "Oh but it is," he said, "you're only saying that because you're the one whose locked in the closet."

"Haley," said Rory, "I'm going to kill you."

"No you aren't," said Haley, "you're going to thank me after this, trust me."

"I can't believe you guys," said Lucas, "why on earth are you locking us up in the closet?"

Lane's voice came from behind the door and she said, "Because you are the most oblivious people in the world and we thought that if forced to spend several hours in closed quarters then you will finally open your eyes and realize that the two of you like each other."

"Lane," said Rory, "I can't believe you locked me in a closet. You know Lucas and I don't like each other! We're just friends!"

"Yeah," said Lucas, "we don't like each other, we're just friends."

"Oh come on Luke," said Haley, "it's obvious that you do."

"Haley," said Lucas, "I swear, when I get out of here, I'm going to kill you."

"Hey," said Nathan, "that's my wife you're threatening."

"Yeah, well, then I might as well threaten you too, because you're a dead man also," said Lucas.

"Hey, don't get mad at me," said Nathan, "it was all Haley and Lane's idea. I tried to get them to not go through with it but they wouldn't listen to me."

"I didn't see you kicking and screaming not to do it," Haley said pointedly, "you obliged to help, willingly."

"C'mon guys, let us out," Rory pleaded.

"Sorry," said Haley.

"No can do," said Nathan.

"I love you Rory, but it's for your own good," was what Lane said.

Rory and Lucas let out a groan. They heard Haley and Lane let out squeals of delight and Nathan laughed at the two of them and then footsteps and the three of them were gone. Lucas, who was standing next to the door, sank down to the ground, his back against it, and his legs spread.

"Oh man," he said, running a hand over his face, "I can't believe that they managed to lock us in a closet."

**Hour Eight **

Rory and Lucas were still locked in the closet. They had tried every means of escape. "God," said Rory, "we should have listened to Jess's warning."

"Yeah, we really should have," said Lucas, "as soon as Nathan mentioned the coat closet, we should have jetted out of there."

"I know," said Rory. She stood up from where she had been sitting and walked over to the door and kicked it. "That was really stupid of us."

"Agreed," said Lucas, "I'm now going to fear closets the rest of my life."

"The feelings mutual," said Rory, "well, I won't be scared of them; I just won't go around them when Nathan and Haley are around them."

"Same here," said Lucas.

There was a moment of silence and Rory went back to where she had been sitting. "At least it was you they locked me in the closet with and not Dean," she said.

Lucas chuckled, "True. You lucked out."

"Definitely," she said.

Lucas then remembered Rory's odd attitude earlier. "Hey," he said, "you never told me what was wrong with you after that time that you took a break to go to the bathroom and came back acting all weird."

"Oh," said Rory, "I don't really want to talk about it."

"C'mon Rory," said Lucas, "you did say that you would tell me about it later, and it is later."

Rory smiled. Lucas did have a point. Besides, it wasn't like it was a big deal or anything. "Oh," said Rory, "it's just that I ran into Dean and his new girlfriend and it was a little weird to see the two of them together."

Lucas let out a whistle. "Wow," he said, "that had to have been awkward."

"It was awkward," said Rory, "incredibly awkward."

"Well why didn't you tell me earlier?" said Lucas.

"I was just freaked about it," said Rory, "I mean, I always I assumed that I would be dating before he started too. It's logical, isn't it, considering the fact that he was the one who broke up with me? I mean, shouldn't I be the one who gets to start dating before him?"

"I guess," said Lucas, "but you know, it's not like you've shown any interest in anybody."

"I know," said Rory, "I was just hoping that someone would come along and I could start dating before him and show him that I really had moved on, you know, and rub it in his face."

Lucas laughed, "Yeah, I guess I can see what you mean."

Rory suddenly felt a rush of cold air brush against her. "Where's that coming from?" she asked, thinking that Lucas must have felt it to.

Lucas looked at her oddly. "Where's what coming from?"

"That cold air," Rory said, "it just brushed against me. Didn't you feel it?"

"No," said Lucas and then he paused. Sure enough, he felt cold air brushing against him. "Wait, yeah, I just felt it."

"It can't be coming from the door," said Rory, "it's locked."

"Yeah," said Lucas, "so where's it coming from then? There aren't any windows or anything like that."

Rory scanned the ceiling for any sign of something that could be letting in cold air and then she saw it on top of the wall---an air vent. She smirked. Rory had no clue why there was an air vent in there, but whatever the reason, she was incredibly happy that there was one.

"There's an air vent in here," she told Lucas.

Lucas looked and sure enough he saw the air vent. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Why on earth would anyone put an air vent in here?"

"I don't know," said Rory, "but I'm glad they did."

"Why?" said Lucas. "Were you getting warm or something?"

"No," said Rory, "don't you realize what it means?"

Lucas didn't quite know what she was talking about and then he put two and two together. Of course, they could crawl through the air vent and get out of the closet.

"Oh man," said Lucas, grinning, "we can climb through it."

Rory chuckled, "We're going to beat Nathan and Haley at their own game."

"How stupid could they be to lock us in a room with an air vent?"

"I don't know," said Rory, "but they weren't very bright."

Lucas and Rory smirked at each other. They then got up and Lucas somehow managed to take off the covering of the air vent. "Okay," said Lucas, "you're going to go first."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Why am I going to go first?" she asked.

"Because," said Lucas, "you're shorter then me. I've got to push you up in there, and then I'll crawl through."

"Oh," said Rory, blushing slightly, "right."

Lucas picked Rory up and was amazed at how light she was. She weight barely anything. Her legs brushed against him for a moment and he was glad that Rory couldn't see him blushing right now.

Rory crawled into the air vent and crawled a few paces ahead so that Lucas could get in. She had to admit that she rather liked Lucas picking her up.

Lucas climbed into the air vent and he smiled. "You know," said Lucas, "we shouldn't tell them that we escaped. I think it would serve them right to panic after they decided to lock us up in the coat closet."

Rory smiled, and said, "Agreed."

The two of them started crawling inch by inch through the air vent. Rory thought about what Haley, Nathan, and Lane had done. It amazed her to think that they thought that she and Lucas liked each other.

Really, she thought, why would they think that? After all, I don't like Lucas. He's just a friend---a really, really, good friend.

Lucas's thoughts were pretty much the same as Rory's. Why would Nathan, Haley, and Lane think that I liked Rory? He thought, she's just a really, really, good friend. That's all.

The two of them climbed out of the air vent and when they did, they looked at their surroundings and found that they were outside Stars Hollow High. Both of them grinned and then they let out a laugh.

"Can you imagine their faces when they find that we're not in there?" said Lucas.

"It'll be quite a sight to see," said Rory, smiling. Her cheeks were red and her face was a little warm from being locked inside the closet.

Lucas noticed this and the thought that she was pretty entered his mind, but he quickly shook it out. "C'mon," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders, "let's go to your house and order some food."

They looked at their surroundings. It was hour eight of the dance marathon, and bright as day. That meant that it was eight o' clock in the morning. "Hey," said Rory, "instead of going to my house, why don't we just go out and get breakfast?"

"Sure," said Lucas, "that sounds good."

The two of them walked off to go and find breakfast, laughing about what their friends reactions would be when they realized that Lucas and Rory had gotten out of the closet and were no longer anywhere near the dance marathon.

**A/N: So, I finished _Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince _yesterday, and let me tell you, it was amazing. I'm not going to give anything away because you have to read it all in order to see. J. K. Rowling really out did herself. Teen-angst and wand waving put together, my treat. The W.B. will have ubber fun when they make the movie for book six, being the king of teen drama's. It would be really funny if they got the guy who directed _Dawson's Creek _to direct the movie for book six. So, this chapter was nearly thirty one pages! I know, I'm insane. They're getting longer as they come. I think reading Harry Potter is doing that to me. Okay, on with the reviews. **

**Thank you to: **

**readergurl87:Thank you. Did you finish hp? I finished it Sunday. I got it Saturday. My Mom attempted to hide it from me but she relented and gave it to me. **

**Sum41rocks: Heck yes I'm an hp fan. In the second grade, I had a sixth grade reading level and I started reading it then and have been ever sense. Mom said it was just a phase, but nope, I still love that series. That's cool that you got it too. Did you finish it? If not, what part are you on? I finished it on thr 17th, Sunday. **

**Msjml: Thank you, I'm glad you still like the story even after missing a few chapters. Yeah, I thought the locking people in the closet trick was a good one, so I used it. Come to think of it, I hope none of my friends try that on me. They might though this year at this rate if me and my arch nemesis don't stop bickering with each other. **

**Othlover04**

**Angelgirl0910: Wow, never read Hp? Huh. Oh well. It's not everybody's thing. But at least you've heard of it. I find it scary when some people are so out of touch with the world that they haven't even heard about it, considering how much press Harry Potter gets. **

**Love23: I agree with you on Lorelai. She is a character! I'm glad you liked the closure thing. **

**newyoricannyc: sorry :( **

**rogan fan: Thank you! I'm glad you liked chapters fourteen and fifteen. Mwuhaha. Jess being cryptic----Jess anything, I just like Jess. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad that you like it. **

**forever cynical: I like the lady and the soldier thing. I don't think that's actually old fashioned. Have you seen Cold Mountain? That movie is an awesome lady and soldier movie. **

**potostfbeyeluvr****: I came back as fast as I can. Was it fast enough:)**

**Unforgettable Faith**

**Peanutbutterluver1399****: Thanks, but the story isn't getting published. Mom and I are going to try for another publisher to get a better deal. I'm glad you liked it and yeah, as you'll see in this chapter, I think Nathan and Haley might end up in Stars Hollow permanetly, but not until MUCH, MUCH, later. **

**lkwREADer****: lol. I'm glad you liked Nathan having to hide from Mrs. Kim. I thought that would be funny, so I put it in there. **

**omeomy**

**Poetic Angelica**: **Thanks! And I did have fun.** **Lucas in any outfit is good...except perhaps a bunny outfit, but any other outfit, Lucas is good.**

**GilmoreAtHeart74****: Aw, thank you. Sorry I couldn't update before I dived into Hp, but I did finish Hp in two days just for you guys, so I got the chapter up as quickly as I could. **

**beautifulbutterfly****: Yes, yay for new Hp. I'm glad you like the chapter, and Nathan and Haley, and Jess.**

**Sea4Shoes****: I didn't put it (Harry Potter, that is) down either. Are you finished with it? I finished it Sunday.**

**BumpyRider****: Summer class? Bleh, I'm sorry. I hope it wasn't too awful.**

**SnowyOwl-17****:lol. No, Tristin won't be making anymore appearances. There will just be more Lucas and Rory drama unfolding. **

**Gilmoregirl **

**jmarit17****: Thanks:)**

**StreetRacinChiki****: lol. Is thirty one pages enough? **

**Cupid's Bride****: If it makes you feel better, how about I make Rory have a dream about Tristin, okay:) And there will be a big fat kiss in the dream.**

**katydid7186****: Don't worry, Keith and Lorelai are just friends. I just wanted to build up something so that Luke would realize his feelings for Lorelai.**

**KarahBella****: Thank you.**

**Kit Jordan**: **Thanks:)**

**princetongirl**  
**fairieangel**  
**Kylie1403**

**Shygirly4eva: I promise to put Taylor the magican in the next chapter. :) **

**Thank you all so much for your reviews and now I've made my fingers hurt once again and I leave you until next time.**

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria**


	17. What goes around comes around

**Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman Palladino and One Tree Hill is owned by Marc Schwahn. They are also owned by the W.B. too. **

**Chapter Seventeen**

**What goes around comes around **

It was unfathomable that Lucas and Rory should go missing in a coat closet. No one expected it, and no one even thought about the possibility. Needless to say, the impossible happened. For nearly six hours, no one had given much thought to what Lucas and Rory were up to in the coat closet. Haley, Nathan, and Lane all assumed that by this time they would be making out or something.

Nathan brought up the subject of them being in the closet first. "Hey guys," he said, "don't you think we should at least give them food or something? They've been in there for hours."

The three teenagers were sitting on the steps of Stars Hollow High while the dance marathon continued on inside. Haley and Lane both exchanged glances that evidently said that this thought hadn't occurred to them.

"Oh my god," said Haley, "I completely forgot about the food thing."

"So did I," said Lane, "that didn't even cross my mind."

Nathan shook his head. "See," he said, "I told you this was a bad idea."

Haley slapped him on the arm. "You did not," she said, "all you said was that you didn't think that Lucas and Rory were ready to start dating again. Never once did you mention that it was a bad idea."

Lane chuckled, "She's got you beat there."

Nathan shook his head. "This is what I get for hanging out with chicks," he said.

Haley shot him a glare. "Watch it, bud," she said, "one of those 'chicks' is your wife." Nathan smirked.

"Don't I know it," he said.

"Okay," said Haley, "so we should probably go and get them some decent food for them to eat and then like…slip it in as quickly as we possibly can."

"Yep," said Lane, "you could go to the cake place. I know that whatever we get them is going to have to have sugar in it because if it doesn't then Rory might pass out or something."

"Alright," said Haley, "but we should agree that we're only going to let them out unless their sticking their tongues down each others throat."

Nathan laughed, "I don't think their going to want out any time soon in that case."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Nice Nate," she said sarcastically.

"I was only telling the truth," said Nathan smiling impishly.

Haley rolled her eyes and said, "Okay I'm going to go and get some half way decent food for Lucas and Rory and then I'll be back in a few and we can give them the food as quickly as possible so that they don't escape."

"Okay then," said Nathan, "we'll see you in a few."

Haley then left and Nathan and Lane walked to the coat closet. "So," said Nathan, "ten bucks says that they're not going to want food."

Lane chuckled, "I'm betting you're right."

Nathan put his ear to the door of the coat closet. He was surprised when he didn't hear any sounds coming from it. "That's weird," he said, "There's like no noise coming from the coat closet. There should be noise if they're making out."

"Maybe they aren't making out," said Lane, "maybe they just fell asleep. I mean, Rory was like dead tired during the dance marathon, and so was Lucas."

Nathan smirked. "Or maybe they're doing another kind of sleeping," he said.

Lane wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Okay," said Lane, "that's gross. Really, why is it that all guys think about is sex?"

"It's in our genetic makeup," said Nathan.

Lane shook her head. Just then, Haley walked up carrying two bags from some fast food place. "Okay," said Haley, "the cake place was closed, but I saw a burger place and got burgers instead."

Nathan went to stick his hand in one to grab a fry, and Haley swatted at him. "No, these aren't for you," she said, "they're for the captives."

"Oh, you're no fun," Nathan joked. Haley just rolled her eyes and then slowly opened the door in the coat closet just a crack.

"Lucas, Rory," said Haley, "I come baring food. Please don't kill me while grabbing it." There was no answer and no movement. Curious, Haley stuck her head inside to see what was up.

When looking around the coat closet, Haley gapped. "Oh my god," she said.

"What?" Nathan asked. Haley didn't say anything. He repeated, "Haley, what, is everything okay?"

"No," said Haley and she slowly backed out of the coat closet.

"Haley," said Nathan, looking at her curiously, "what's the matter?" Haley turned to him, looking shocked.

"Um," said Haley, "we've encountered a bit of a problem."

"What is it Hales?" Lane asked.

"Well," said Haley, "Lucas and Rory are…..gone."

"They're what!" Nathan and Lane both exclaimed at the same time.

"They're gone," she repeated.

They all exchanged worried looks, wondering where on earth their friends could be. How on earth could two teenagers get lost in a coat closet? Running to the gym where the dance marathon was still going on, they went over to where Keith and Lorelai stood dancing.

Noting the look on the teenagers faces, Lorelai said, "Okay, why do you three look like you're deer's that just got caught in the headlights?"

"Um," said Haley, running a hand through her hair, "you know how we were doing that closet thing where we lock Rory and Lucas in it?"

"Yes," said Lorelai, "what about it?"

"Well," said Haley, and then she looked at Nathan and said, "Nate, why don't you tell her what happened?"

"Hey," said Nathan, "this was your brilliant idea. You tell her."

"Fine," said Haley with annoyed look at Nathan, "Okay, now don't freak out or anything. But we sort of…"

"Haley," said Keith, "what happened?"

"It's nothing big," said Haley, "it's just that we sort of…"

"You and Lane sort of," Nathan corrected.

"Right, well, Lane and I sort of….lost Lucas and Rory," Haley blurted out. Lorelai suddenly looked panicked. "You what?" she croaked.

"We lost Lucas and Rory," said Haley. Both Keith and Lorelai suddenly looked horrified.

"Oh my god," said Lorelai, "you _lost _Rory and Lucas? How can you loose a person in a coat closet! Seriously, what were you thinking when you did this? Um, okay. Sorry. I'm not going to yell anymore. I won't yell. Um, Nathan, go tell Taylor what happened and get a search party started. Haley, you go check and see if they're at Keith's house, Lane you go see if they're at our place. Go check anywhere you can think of. I'm going to----"

She quickly headed off the dance floor with Taylor calling, "Lorelai, you can not walk off the dance floor! You have to use your yellow card! Lorelai!" \

"Shove it Taylor," Lorelai said and she continued on heading to Luke's little coffee stand that was in the back of the gym.

"Luke," she said, "Rory went missing with Lucas."

"What?" Luke exclaimed, spilling the coffee that he'd been pouring into a cup originally all over himself. "Rory's missing?"

"Yes," said Lorelai.

"With Lucas?" said Luke. "Oh, I knew I didn't like that kid. There was something fishy about him all along. I never-----"

Lorelai said, "Calm down Luke. It isn't his fault. Nathan, Haley, and Lane decided to lock them in the coat closet to try and get them together so technically it's their fault."

Luke looked at her like she was insane. "I need to sit down, but there's no where to sit down," he said, "okay, let me get this straight-----Rory and Lucas went missing in a coat closet?"

"Yes!" said Lorelai. "Look, I know it sounds insane but this is Stars Hollow, and you know this town's funky, I mean, it makes Smallville look normal, and I just….need help finding my kid, Luke, so please help us."

Luke sighed. "Okay," he said, "I'll help you look. C'mon, my trucks outside."

Nathan walked up to where Taylor Doose was at the podium. "And then I would pull out a rabbit out of my hat, and they'd all applaud and---" he was in the middle of telling one of his stories about how he used to be a magician to Miss Patty, which Miss Patty had already heard a million times during the dance marathon.

"Excuse me, Taylor," said Nathan, tapping him on the shoulder. Taylor turned and looked at him with beady little eyes.

"Excuse me young man," said Taylor, "I was in the middle of telling a story. It was very rude of you to interrupt me."

"Oh," said Nathan, "I'm sorry. But look, it's important. It's about Rory."

"Rory," said Taylor, looking at him suspiciously, "Rory Gilmore? What about her boy? I swear, if you did anything to her young man, Luke Danes and I will have your hide and---"

Nathan would have normally been amused by this, but judging of the seriousness of the situation, he decided not to. "Look," he said, "Rory Gilmore and Lucas Scott are missing. We can't find them. We need to send a search party out to look for them."

Taylor was now wearing the same expression Lorelai had been wearing only a minute ago. Grabbing his blow horn, he said, "The dance marathon is stopping! Everyone, there's an emergency in Stars Hollow! Rory Gilmore and Lucas Scott have gone missing!"

All movement on the dance floor stopped, and everyone started whispering. "Can't you see this is a scam Taylor?" Kirk called. "It's all part of Lorelai's plan to win the dance marathon."

Nathan grabbed Taylor's blow horn (which made him a little mad) and said, "Shut up you dick. Do you really think Lorelai Gilmore would sink so low as to have her kid and her kid's friend to get lost in order to win a stupid dance marathon?"

Kirk thought about this and said, "Well…no….I…I guess not," everyone turned and looked at him, and then, feeling awkward Kirk said, "well what are you waiting for? Get out and get looking for them people."

The whole of Stars Hollow started bustling and headed out of the gym to look for the two teenagers. Meanwhile, Lorelai and look drove around the town searching as well.

"God, I don't see them anywhere," said Lorelai, "where could they be?" Just then her cell phone rang.

"Hola," Rory's voice came into the phone. Lorelai looked relieved. "Oh my god," said Lorelai, "where have you and Lucas been? Haley came and told me that you got lost in the coat closet and Luke and I have been searching for you."

"Luke and you?" Rory said surprised. "Don't you mean you and Keith?"

"No," said Lorelai, "Luke and I have been looking for you. Why'd you bring up Keith?" 

"Well he was your dance partner last time I checked," said Rory, "why are you with Luke?"

Lorelai was frustrated with her questions. "That's beside the point," she said, "what I want to know is where are you and Lucas."

"Lucas and I are fine," said Rory, "we got out at about eight o' clock in morning. We escaped through the air vents."

Lorelai chuckled. "Oh my god," she said, "That's my girl. I knew watching the _James Bond _movies would come in handy."

Luke asked, "Is that Rory on the phone?" Lorelai nodded and went back to talking to her daughter.

"Okay," said Lorelai, "so while I'm glad that you and Lucas are safe, I still have no clue where you are. So where are you?"

"Oh," said Rory, "Lucas and I drove into Hartford because most of the places in town were closed, so we're just hanging out. Oh, and Nathan and Haley's plan didn't work. We're still just friends."

"Aw," said Lorelai, "well at least you can say that you've climbed through an air vent."

"Yeah," said Rory, "that's something. Anyway, can you not tell them that you found us? We want them to search for hours as kind of our revenge."

Lorelai said, "Okay. I won't. But I'm telling Luke and Keith. So, what time will I see you?"

"Oh," said Rory, "about eleven o' clock at night. We figured we'd give them time to get panicked so you can report back to us what crazy things that they said."

"Alright then, sweets," said Lorelai, "I'll see you later. And don't you and Lucas do anything that involves making out."

Rory laughed, "We're just friends Mom. No worries there." Rory hung up, as did Lorelai.

"What'd she say?" Luke asked. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, they're both fine, and they didn't do anything that Eric Camden would not approve of," said Lorelai, "they're still just friends, so Nathan and Haley's plan backfired. They escaped through the air vent and are going to spend the day in Hartford. But they don't want us to tell anyone because they want to get revenge on Nathan, Haley, and Lane by making them search for them all over the place."

Luke chuckled, "Smart kids. So they escaped through the air vent huh?"

"Yeah," said Lorelai, "my question is though---"

Luke finished her sentence for her, "What's an air vent doing in a coat closet?" They both looked at each other and then shook their heads and Luke drove Lorelai home.

_**To be continued **_

**A/N: Okay, so there's chapter seventeen. Sorry I took so long, but I've had writers block on this story and have been working on other projects too. I'm working on book number two of my original series, Sandy Shores, an original historical fiction novel (or what will be a novel when I'm done with it) an original story called White Houses, inspired by the Vanessa Carlton song. I'm also working on Trouble Comes in Two's which I'm partner writing with Cupid's Bride, who's brilliant. She came up with the story idea. And I started a new One Tree Hill fic, Ashes to Ashes, so Tree Hill fans, go read that now that you've finished this if you want to. It's kind of a dark, twisted fic. **

**Note to all you reviewers, I just wanted to say that you guys all rock. I now have three hundred and seventy nine reviews. I love talking to people especially fellow One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls fans, so if you want to talk to me just i.m. me at TutorgirlHaley on aim or shoot me an e-mail at Onetrreehillgrrl at (yes, that's spelled correctly, there really are to R's in it.). I've also got a journal at BlogCity under the same username, Wittyheroine. You can check it out at this web address: **http/wittyheroine. with the reviewers-----

**Prettywhenucry199: Thank you. I'm forever forgetting the R in voldemort. **

**Fairieangel: Lorelai and Luke are getting together, as are Keith and Karen. Lucas will stay with the Gilmore Girls for Christmas. He will go to Tree Hill for Spring Break though, as will Rory and Lorelai. **

**KarahBella **

**Poetic Angelica: I am glad that I'm able to surprise you with this story. I didn't really think about it, but I guess I do put in a lot of plot twists. **

**Spicygirl: Thanks. They will get together soon. **

**Kylie1403: Luke and Lorelai will get together, no worries. **

**Sexyheather9106**

**Othlover04: It's nice talking to you online. I.m me whenever. **

**Jmarit17: That book rocked, of course! J.K. really out did herself. Thanks I'm glad you liked that chapter. **

**Princetongirl **

**Newyoricannyc: Thanks for the correction. I thought I was right, but I guess not. **

**Omeomy **

**Lkwreader: It was nice talking to you online. I'm glad you liked Lucas and Rory's escape and Nathan's costume----: ) and I hope you finish HP soon because it rocks. **

**Nancerz **

**Shygirly4evea: I never thought about a Charlie Todd reference. Lol. That'd be funny. Am glad you liked the chapter. Sorry the Taylor magician part was small, and not as funny, but it didn't really fit in with it. I hope the Kirk bit made up for it. **

**Katydid7186: Multi-colored fingers? Sounds like fun. Lol. The kiss is coming soon. Remember, Christmas means mistletoe and lots of it. : ) I'm sorry the chapter took so long to get up. I try my hardest. **

**Roganfan: Sorry to disappoint on lack of LURVE but there will be some soon in the the chapter after the next one. **

**Peanutbutterluver1399: Thanks for the encouragement. My Mom and I are still hunting down publishers. We're going for the smaller ones because you don't need an agent with them. If you can think of any small publishers that are YA oriented (young adult) and aren't too big in the biz, let me know. Lol. I doubt that you do but I figure its okay to ask. I'm glad you liked the Nathan thing. **

**Sum41rocks: I think you're the only one who noticed the hp reference in the chapter: ) Bravo! Glad you liked the Chucky doll part. That was sooo random when I wrote it. Lol. Lucas is not going to Tree Hill for Christmas, he's staying with Rory and Lorelai. Watch for some loven'. Rory, Lorelai, and Lucas will go to Tree Hill though for Spring Break. Enter drama and some love triangles. Jess will hitch a ride with them as well. Hee hee. Peyton Sawyer and Jess…I think troubles coming. **

**Marisa **

**Sea4shoes: Yes, book 7 is going to rock. **

**Lolitaro fan j.r.a: Sorry about your comp. I'm glad you loved the chapters that you missed. **

**P: It took me one day to write that chapter. I started in the morning and finished in the evening. **

**Lorelailovescoffee: Hold your horses, lol. They'll get together soon. **

**Potosfbeyeluvr: lol. I'll try and hurry as fast as possible, but remember I'm not Kryptonian, so I don't have super speed. Lol. **

**Toniboo: Thanks. : ) **

**Beautifulgoodbye15: I'm waiting purposefully for them to go to Tree Hill to get together. I figured they started this thing in Stars Hollow and the end should come at Tree Hill. **

**Readergurl87: Am glad you like it. Good luck with driving. Don't let any deer's hit you. Lol. **

**Fallen Heart: Agreed. Oth rocks. I hope you have a fun summer. **

**Okay, now that that's done this story has like three extra pages just from answering reviews. Lol. You guys are all amazing and I thank you. : ) Till next time. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	18. Snogging in the snow

**Disclaimer- One Tree Hill is owned by Marc Schwahn and Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman Palladino. Both are also owned by the W.B. **

**Chapter Eighteen **

"**Snogging in the snow"**

"A merry Christmas to me," said Lorelai as they came out of the Grandparents house, Lorelai disgruntled as usual from the Friday night dinner, "another night of, 'Oh Lorelai, why were you such a failure' and 'Lorelai how could you lose Rory?' god, one more minute in there and I think they would have called child services."

Rory sighed, "I said I was sorry. If you would have preferred, I could have just told them the closet part of the story and not told them how Lucas and I escaped and pretended to be lost."

"No, it's alright," said Lorelai, "because then they wouldn't freak out about me losing you, they'd freak out about me letting you do something Paris Hilton would put her stamp of approval on---being locked in a closet with a guy."

"Well," said Rory, "think of it this way----you can always move Grandma's candles at the Christmas party and make them eight inches apart instead of the usual six that she likes."

Lorelai chuckled, "Nah. I'll just bring fruit cake. She despises fruit cake, and she always asks us to bring something."

"I really am sorry about bringing up the getting lost thing," said Rory, "but look at this way; you have Nathan, Haley, and Lane to blame for that." Lorelai grinned.

"That I do," said Lorelai, "hey, I should get Nathan and Haley to come to Friday night dinner. You know payback for making me have a freak out and thinking that you'd gotten lost."

"Sorry, but they went home to Tree Hill," said Rory, "they left the day after the closet incident. They said that they wanted to spend their first holiday alone, together in Tree Hill."

"That's sweet," said Lorelai, "young love."

"True love," said Rory.

"It's a newwwww love," Lorelai sang, and Rory couldn't help but snicker.

"Isn't that a song by The Judd's?" Rory asked.

"I think so," said Lorelai, "how should I know? The only country music I ever listened to was Johnny Cash and that was only after he re-did the Nine Inch Nails song."

"Same," said Rory, "let's head home."

"Good, because a minute longer near the psycho house, and I'm going to go psycho myself," said Lorelai, opening the car door. Rory went over to the passenger's side, and opened her own door also.

The both of them got in and then closed the door. "Okay," said Rory, "I hate to tell you this, but Mom, you're already a little psycho."

"Why thank you honey!" said Lorelai, grinning. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said."

"You're welcome," said Rory, and she added, "I thought you'd like that."

Lorelai started to drive, and she said, "So, did you manage to get pictures of Haley's face when she found out that you weren't really missing, because I want copies if you did."

"Why?" said Rory. "Planning on putting it on the internet?"

Lorelai grinned. "Of course," she said, "what kind of person do you take me for?" Rory laughed at her Mother.

"Sorry Mom," she said, "I didn't manage to get pictures. But it was pretty priceless, wasn't it?"

"Even more classic then Kirk dancing on the tables after being drunk at Miss Patty's party," said Lorelai.

"Agreed," said Rory, "I think she would have killed us had she had the chance. Of course, Taylor was worse then she was."

"I know," said Lorelai, "I can't believe he gave you an hour long lecture! Then he banned you from being the town's princess at any of the events." Rory snorted.

"Like that's a real loss," said Rory, "but the whole lecture thing---my god, you'd think he was my Father."

"Nah," said Lorelai, "Chris wouldn't lecture. He'd only laugh and want to meet the guy you were in the closet with and then mock me for having 'lost' you."

"That sounds about like what Dad would do," said Rory, "but still, Taylor was acting Fatherly. It was creepy."

"So," said Lorelai as she drove, "did Lucas tell you that Keith's going home for the holidays?" Rory looked at her confused, and that told Lorelai that Lucas hadn't.

"No," said Rory, "he didn't. Why's he going home to Tree Hill?"

"Oh," said Lorelai, "he's going to have another shot at asking Lucas's Mom to marrying him."

"Are you okay with that?" Rory asked, looking at her Mom concerned knowing about the whole kiss thing that had happened between her and Keith.

"Yeah," said Lorelai, "I'm fine. I mean, I'm attracted to Keith. I won't deny it. But it's only a physical thing. There's no real love there, other then you know I love him like I would a brother. So I'm perfectly fine with him going after lost love. Actually, I'm kind of rooting for it."

"Good," said Rory and then a thought occurred to her and she questioned, "Is Lucas going to Tree Hill with Keith?"

"I don't know," said Lorelai, "he most likely doesn't even know about it if he hasn't told you. I mean, you would think that he'd be the first person he'd come running to tell if he was."

"Yeah," said Rory, "I guess."

They say in silence the rest of the way home, Rory contemplating whether or not she wanted Lucas to go home to Tree Hill for the holidays. She thought that on one hand it would be good for him to confront his past. On the other hand, Rory couldn't help but think that she wanted Lucas to herself.

She sighed and looked at the window, deciding to put her thoughts to rest for the ride and then she'd talk to Lucas about it the next day to see if he was in fact going to Tree Hill for Christmas or if he wasn't.

At one o' clock in the morning, Lorelai Gilmore was woken up with a smell that was tantalizing her senses. A grin crept on her face---the first snow of the season was coming. She got up and went down stairs, creeping into Rory's room.

"Hey Kiddo," she said, and her daughter rolled over, and her eyes opened. She glared at her Mother.

"Mom," she said, "what are you doing?" she looked at her alarm clock. "It's like, one o' clock in the morning."

Lorelai's grin widened. "I smell snow," she said simply. A small smile appeared on Rory's face. She got out of bed and grabbed her jacket.

"Let's go," she said to Lorelai whose grin then turned into a maniac smile. The two of them exited, and Rory stopped after she'd gotten down the porch stairs. Lorelai turned at her with a questioning look.

"I want to go wake Lucas up," said Rory, "it's the first snow and he should experience this."

"Okay hun," said Lorelai, "go for it. Just make sure he doesn't think you're a psycho or something when you do."

"Right," said Rory and she added joking, "If I'm not back in a few minutes, I've lost my virginity." Lorelai glared.

"Funny, funny, girl," she said with sarcasm. Rory just grinned and then headed over to the Scotts, going to the back of the house and opening the back door which they always left open.

Rory walked to Lucas's room and knocked on the closed bedroom door. She heard a groan from inside and the sound of stumbling. Then the door opened and a tired looking Lucas opened it.

"Rory," he said, sounding groggy, "what are you doing here? It's like…one a.m."

"I know," said Rory, "but Mom's a maniac and has this weird idea that she can smell snow and so she thinks that tonight is going to be the first snow, and so if I have to get woken up by the crazy woman at this hour, then I'm not going alone. Because who knows what she might do next, and I am not being left alone with her."

"You couldn't have woken up Jess?" he said.

"Ha, ha," said Rory with sarcasm. "C'mon, put a jacket on. The crazy lady is waiting out there for us."

Lucas groaned a little and then grabbed a jacket and came back out and the two of them went outside and found where Lorelai was, standing in the middle of the street, incredibly happy. "Hey Lucas," said Lorelai.

Lucas mumbled a hello. Lorelai simply grinned. "You know its Rory's fault you were woken up, right?"

"Actually it wasn't," Lucas said, "It was yours."

"How do you figure that?" Lorelai asked.

"Because you were the one who woke up Rory and dragged her out in the first place, and by doing that, she had to go and wake me up, so it was your fault," said Lucas. Lorelai glared.

"Nice logic there mister," said Rory, grinning at her Mother who shot her a glare.

"Meh," said Lorelai, "I'm just going to keep my thoughts to myself because the first snow is coming and I don't want anything to ruin it."

"Good plan," Lucas said chuckling.

"Mom," said Rory, "can we go back inside? I really don't think that it's going to snow. I mean, it's clear out and there's not a single cloud in the sky. Besides, the news never mentioned snow."

"Hey," said Lorelai, "when have I ever been wrong?"

"When you thought that Andrew and Kirk were lovers," said Rory. Lucas snickered and Lorelai shot him a look.

"Sorry," he muttered but he couldn't stop the smile on his face.

"Can you blame me? I mean, they were all touchy feely for a while there," said Lorelai.

"Because Kirk's Mother was sick, and Andrew was helping him," said Rory.

"Still," said Lorelai, "it might explain why Andrew can never keep a girlfriend, because he has unrequited love for Kirk."

"Okay," said Lucas, "this conversation is getting a little disturbing."

"Agreed," said Rory.

"You brought it up!" Lorelai objected.

"Yes, but I didn't think that you would start talking about that possibility again," said Rory.

"I---"Lorelai started to say something but Lucas interrupted.

"Guys," he said, "it's snowing."

"Do not try and deter the conversation, Lucas Scott," said Lorelai, "I was going to get on a roll, point out a few factors that she missed and----"she paused when she felt something on her head. Looking up, she saw that it was indeed snowing.

Lucas hugged Rory just then. She looked at him, somewhat surprised. "Okay, a little random there," said Rory, "what was that for?"

"Oh," said Lucas, "it's the first snow hug."

"The first snow hug, huh?" said Rory. "I think I kind of like that."

Lucas grinned, his arms still around her. "Yeah well, I thought that you would." Lorelai looked at the two teenagers out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Closing her eyes, Lorelai silently wished that the holiday season would bring Lucas and Rory together-one could only hope.

The next morning, or rather, later in the morning, Lucas, Rory, and Lorelai all sat at a table in Luke's Diner. "So Lucas," said Lorelai, "when does Keith leave for Tree Hill?" Lucas shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"Um, he," Lucas started, "he leaves tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," said Rory, "so, are you going with him?"

"Well, I---I don't know yet," said Lucas, "I was sort of thinking about it. Peyton doesn't have anyone for Christmas, so I was thinking that maybe I would go and spend the holidays with her, you know, as a friend."

"Peyton huh?" said Lorelai with a raised eyebrow. "That's a surprise. But you said her Dad got holidays off."

"She wrote me and said that he couldn't make it home this season," said Lucas, "so yeah, I might go back." Rory shifted in her seat uneasily and suddenly got very quiet. She didn't know why, but the thought of Lucas with the blonde girl from his past for the holidays unsettled her.

It shouldn't, really. After all, Lucas was taking the first steps towards going home and facing his past. In fact, she knew that she should actually be happy for him. He was moving on, getting over his past. She should be supporting him in this decision. After all, it was a really big thing for Lucas.

But who knew if he was even going? He'd said that he didn't know if he was going yet. But he did only have one day to decide. He could act hastily and decide the wrong thing. But how was his going home wrong?

Because he's leaving me, Rory thought, and will be spending the entire holidays with some curly blonde haired girl from his past that he had a crush on last year and they'll probably end up making out or having sex or something.

Rory mentally shook herself. No, she thought, I can't think like that. I can't think like that, bad Rory, stop thinking like that.

Lucas looked at her questionably. "Rory," he said, "are you okay? You just got really quiet."

"Oh," said Rory, "I'm fine. I just don't think I got enough sleep after our little adventure last night---morning---whatever. You know what I mean."

"Okay then," said Lucas, looking at her oddly still.

Lorelai noted the look on Rory's face. She knew that look. In fact, she'd worn the same exact look when she was a teenager when Christopher had told her that his then girlfriend had invited him to spend Christmas with her family in Sweden. It was then that Lorelai was suddenly struck with brilliance.

"So Lucas," she said, "you know if you don't really want to go back to Tree Hill, you could always stay with us."

Rory was looking at Lorelai questionably now. Lorelai just ignored her daughter, smiling, turning her attention to Lucas. Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" said Lucas.

"Really," said Lorelai.

Lucas thought about it. "No," he said, "I wouldn't want to intrude or anything. I mean, you should be spending it together, and you are family. It's a family thing."

"Lucas," said Lorelai, "you and my daughter sleep in the same bed…without any sexual thing going on, might I add, at least I hope so…."

"Mom," Rory said, giving her Mother a slightly annoyed look.

"I'll take that as a 'Yes Mom, I'm still a virgin'," said Lorelai, and she continued, looking at Lucas, "and I think that small detail makes you family. So if, god forbid you wanted to come, you would be welcome and wouldn't be considered an intrusion."

Lucas smiled. "Thanks Lorelai," he said, "I….I think I may take you up on that offer."

Rory was so surprised (and so happy) that she blurted out, "Really?" Lucas looked at her amused.

"Yeah, really," said Lucas, "besides, Peyton's got Brooke. I'm certain she'll be fine with just her."

Rory inwardly grinned and Lorelai shot her a look of mischief. Oh god, Rory thought, she's got the mischief look in her eye. That can't be good.

After breakfast, Rory headed directly to Lanes house, deciding that now would be a good time to have a girls only chat about her strange feelings that had crept up on her during her conversation with Lucas and Lorelai during breakfast. She knocked on the door of Kim's Antiques and waited for someone to answer.

"Coming, coming," came the voice of Lane. She opened the door, her face flushed; looking as though she had been running. Rory looked at her quizzically. "What?" Lane asked, noting the look that she had on her face.

"You look like you just did a bike race with Lance Armstrong," said Rory, "why do you look so tired?"

"Oh," said Lane, "I ran all the way from the living room. I had to turn the television off quickly because I wanted to make sure that you weren't my Mom and I wouldn't get yelled at for watching_ The Real World_."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "You were watching _The Real World_?"

"I couldn't help it," said Lane, "these two girls were in a cat fight and I paused for just a second and then I got transfixed by it. Blame the television; it's got evil magical powers." Rory shook her head.

"I won't ask," she said, and added, "I've got a problem."

Lane looked at her curiously. "What kind of a problem?"

"A boy problem," said Rory. Lane grinned.

"Come inside, my friend," she said lead Rory inside the house, closing the door behind her, and then the two went up to Lane's room and sat on Lane's bed. "Okay, is it Dean, Jess, or Lucas?"

Rory looked at her like she was a mad woman. "Why would it be Dean or Jess?" Lane shifted uncomfortably.

"No reason," said Lane, "so if it's not either of them, then I'm taking a wild guess and going to say that it's Lucas that you're boy problem involves."

"Give the girl a prize," said Rory with sarcasm. Lane frowned, but didn't say anything about Rory's comment.

"Okay," said Lane, "so what happened with the kiss?"

Rory quirked a brow, "What kiss?"

Lane looked surprised. "You didn't kiss?"

"No, we didn't kiss," said Rory, "what gave you that idea?"

"I don't know," said Lane, "it's winter, it's a magical season, I just thought it would have finally brought the two of you together and you'd be snogging in the snow."

"Do I look like Ginny Weasley to you?" said Rory. "And why are you using the word snogging anyway?"

"I'm on a British fix," said Lane.

"Okay, I'll let it go then," said Rory, "now can we please drop this weird conversation about snogging---that of which didn't even happen?"

"The snogging or the conversation?" Lane asked.

"The snogging," said Rory, "the snogging didn't happen. Okay, can I tell you my problem now please?"

"Yes," said Lane, "go ahead."

"Okay, so Mom told me last night that Lucas might be going to Tree Hill with Keith for Christmas," said Rory, "or at least to expect it as a possibility because Keith was going."

"Lucas didn't tell you that?" said Lane.

"No," said Rory, "not a single mention."

"Wow," said Lane, "that must have been a shocker to you. So did you talk to him about it?"

"Mom brought it up at breakfast," said Rory, "he looked kind of awkward because of course, he hadn't told me, or mentioned it. But I didn't say anything about it because Mom had already told me so I didn't think I needed to tell him off or something."

"Did he say if he was going to Tree Hill?" Lane asked.

"He wasn't sure," said Rory, "he was going to think about it. But he said it was a possibility because his friend Peyton was going to be all alone and he was thinking about spending Christmas with her."

"Wait," said Lane, "isn't Peyton the one that he---"

"Had a crush on last year?" said Rory. "Yeah, she is."

"Wow," said Lane, "that must have been—"

"Shocking, weird, all of the above," said Rory, "It was all of those things. I mean, here I am thinking that hey, it's great he wants to go to Tree Hill. I mean, his Mom's there, his brother's there, of course that's where he should go for Christmas. But then he says that the reason he wants to go home is because of _Peyton." _

"That's a little weird," said Lane, "you think he still likes her?"

"I don't know," said Rory, "I really don't. But the weirdest thing happened when he said that."

"What?" Lane questioned.

"I got jealous," said Rory, "really, really, jealous. The green monster came out, and I have no idea why. All I could think of was that Lucas was _mine _and that was it. Of course, he's not mine. I'm not his girlfriend. We're just friends. I shouldn't be feeling this, should I?"

"Rory," said Lane, "now, what I'm going to say may shock you, but I think you need to hear it, so just bare with me."

"What is it?" she asked.

Lane got a very serious look on her face. She then said, "You _like _Lucas." There was silence in the room and then Rory for some odd reason got up and walked over to the wall and banged her head on it. Lane made no sudden movements for fear of her safety.

Rory then sank down to the ground, sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Okay, Rory" said Lane after a moment of silence, "say something if you're okay."

"Oh my god," she said, "I do like Lucas." Without a word she got up and left leaving a grinning Lane.

Lane walked downstairs and then dialed Haley's cell phone number. Haley didn't answer but Lane got her message machine. "Hey Haley, its Lane. I'm just calling to tell you that Operation True Love is on its way. Rory just realized that she likes Lucas. Call me later. You know the number." She hung up, and her grin widened.

**A/N: Okay, sorry I took so long to update. I've been home for a few days attempting to get used to the time change. That and it's hotter then hell down here. One bad thing about California----it's too damn hot. Once again I'm messing with your minds. I told you there'd be a kiss in the next chapter. Well, you're going to have to wait a little longer. The kiss will happen in Chapter nineteen, I promise. I know I'll get a million reviews about this later so let me clear it up for you---Lucas doesn't like Peyton anymore. He likes Rory; he just needs to be smacked on the head so that he'll realize it. So Christmas will happen during the next chapter and then it's off to Tree Hill for Spring Break. Mwhahaha. I'm sorry I didn't have a detailed thing about what happened with the search and Haley and Nathan leaving, but it just didn't fit, so I decided to have to go straight to Friday night Dinners. **

**Okay, on with the reviews: **

**othgilmgir4evr72: Thanks I'm happy to serve. **

**courtney: I hope you didn't have too bad of withdrawel symptoms. **

**SlayerWitchGilmoreGirls****: Thanks. **

**Lolitaro fan of j.r.a****: Yeah, I know. That was a short chapter. I hope this one made up for it. **

**readergurl87****: Thanks. **

**Gilmoregirl7878****:Thanks. Sorry that the update took so long. **

**JustPeachy123****: Thanks. **

**princetongirl****: Thanks. **

**P** **: I'm currently working on making a website that will have all the information about my original works on it. **

**I'll give you the url to it when its done as well as anyone else who wants it. I'm glad you like my work, and thanks. I try to answer reviews with every chapter I write. **

**omeomy** **: Their getting together soon. **

**beautifulbutterfly**:**Sadly we don't get to see what happens in Hartford. I tried writing something like that, but I couldn't. **

**They won't get together until Tree Hill. **

**Caitlin: Thank you and I'm glad that you liked the other references. I heart Roswell also. **

**Toniboo****: Yes it will be a Luke and Lorelai story. Lucas and Rory won't kiss until the next chapter. l**

**katydid7186****: Christmas will be interesting. I'm glad that you like it. **

**Sea4Shoes****:Lol. That's funny about your Dad and the deer. **

**shygirly4eva****: The Safe Haven will be updated eventually as soon as I finish Scott Boys and Gilmore Girls. **

**lkwREADer****: Everything that happens in Tree Hill will be interesting. **

**GGlova213****: Yes Luke and Lorelai are going to get together. **

**Poetic Angelica****: Lol. Yes, Lorelai and Rory are very oblivious. **

**Kylie1403****: -laughs mechanically- and matchmaking in the next chapter. **

**Cupid's Bride****: An Alchoholic beverage called 007...sounds like a hang over and a half. lol.**

**Peanutbutterluver1399****: lol. It's okay. I was kidding about the publishing thing. My Mom and I actually think that we found one who might work, if they accept the story. **

**Sum41rocks****: I know, she's cutting out all the good guys. Personally I was rooting for Draco's death. He can have as many sob fests as he wants with Myrtle, it's not going to redeem him. heh heh.**

**fairieangel****: Well, you see, I popped into my fanfic, snapped my fingers and put an air vent there. lol. Kidding. I don't know, I just put it there randomly. If anyone is a realist and wants an explenation---it was an accident. The builders were going to make the closet a classroom, but measured too small. Note that I'm kidding about that too. **

**Beautifulgoodbye15****: Heh heh. I know, I'm evil. I added your screenname to my buddy list too. **

**LoVe23****: My amazing comedy skills have come through again! lol. I'm glad you liked it. **

**potostfbeyeluvr****: Nope, I don't have super speed. Although it would be nice to have. I'm sorry I didn't go too fast when updating this. **

**marisa: Thanks. **

**Ladii.Hannah****: I'm sorry about your review. Sometimes Aol won't open them, and I end up losing them, so that might have been what happened with yours. Hopefully this makes up for it.  
**

**StreetRacinChiki****: Makeoutage next chapter, I promise. **

**KarahBella****: Yeah, but how many times have you heard of people playing matchmaker in real life where it actually works? Lucas and Rory will get together, but it will be by themselves, without the help of meddling friends. **

**Thanks you guys.** **Once again, you rock. :)**

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria**


	19. These silent nights are deafening

_Disclaimer: I own neither One Tree Hill or Gilmore Girls. They belong to Marc Schwan and Amy Sherman Palladino and Warner Bros. _

Chapter nineteen

"These silent nights are deafening"

Lucas Scott was looking at her, an amused smirk on her face. "Are you alright?" he said, noticing the slight blush that crossed Rory's face as he came up behind her. She shook her head.

"Yes, I'm fine," said Rory, "I'm just stressing." Lucas quirked a brow, knowing her all to well, and he hadn't heard about her being stressed about anything.

"Stressed," said Lucas, "what could you possibly be stressed about? Its Christmas break. We don't have tests, we don't have school at all...so what could possibly be stressed in the perfect world of Rory Gilmore?"

Rory bit her lip, musing over all that had happened in the past week. She had finally come to the realization that she liked Lucas, and suddenly she was nervous around him, and every time he came up to her, she jumped. "Oh its nothing..." Rory lied, and she felt a pit in her stomach. She hated having to lie to him. "I'm just anxious about getting my acceptance letters and I'm fretting early. You know, so I don't have to fret when the time comes to do the fretting. It's my pre-fretting."

Lucas chuckled at her. "Okay," he said, "I didn't understand a word you just said except for 'fretting' but whatever. I'll just nod my head and won't ask you to explain what you just said."

"Thank you," said Rory, turning an ever brighter side of red, "because you know I'd rather not do the rambling thing over again hence repeating my brief stint as a complete and total idiot." Lucas just shook his head.

"Joey Potter, I will never understand you," he said, "you're just so cute and at the same time, so incredibly rambly and yet I find it freaky that you are the perfect example of the regular pop culture good girl. Have you also made a promise not to have sex until marriage?"

Rory rolled her eyes and mock-punched him in the shoulder. "That is none of your business Mr. Scott," said Rory, grinning, "but if you must know, I just made a promise to myself not to have sex until I meet the right guy."

Jess who was cleaning the counters in the diner where they were at heard this conversation and found it entertaining and decided to poke fun at it. "Well, well, well, Dawson and Joey talking about taking the next big steps in their relationship. Isn't that cute?" Rory glared at him and grabbed the rag that he was cleaning the counter with and threw it at his face.

Jess put his hands up in an 'I surrender' kind of way. "I was only kidding," he said and then muttered, "god some people in this town have no sense of humor." Just then the door to the diner opened and in came Lorelai, covered with snow and Luke, who was muttering a string of curse words underneath his breath.

"I told you, I told you it was making a whirring sound," said Lorelai, "but would you listen, no?" Luke was covered in what appeared to be car oil. He turned and glared at her.

"Will you quite bragging about it?" said Luke. "Yes, you were right, there was something wrong with your jeep, but honestly, do you need to constantly rub it in my face?" Lorelai closed the door behind her and had an amused look on her face and she stuck her tongue out at Lucas and Rory who both chuckled.

"C'mon," said Lorelai, "when do I ever get to gloat and hang something over your head? Never. I should be allowed this one time to do it." Luke sighed, frustrated, and stormed off into the back of the diner heading to the upstairs part. Lorelai chuckled and went up the stairs, a mechanical look in her eyes.

Jess who had been watching with his interest looked at Lucas and Rory, amused. "You know," said Jess, "this place may not be New York, but I'm starting to think that it has a certain appeal...you know, psychos and such. Its rather entertaining." He threw his hand rag over his shoulder and headed into the kitchen to get something.

"Well," said Lucas, "who would have thought there would come a day when Jess said that he liked Stars Hollow." Rory smiled, feeling a bit more comfortable around Lucas.

"So," said Rory, "are you ready for your first ever Gilmore Style Christmas?"

"Yeah," said Lucas, "I am. From what I've heard, its pretty entertaining." Rory smiled at the memory of past Christmases.

"It is pretty entertaining," said Rory, "I have a feeling you'll feel right at home."

"Oh yeah," said Lucas, "well as long as it is not dramatic or anything like it would be in Tree Hill, then I'll be set." Rory laughed.

"Oh, well just keep Mom away from the top of the Christmas tree," said Rory, "last Christmas we had to spend it in the hospital because she attempted to put the angel on top of it, and she sprained her back."

Lucas laughed, "No worries about that. You'll have a man around the house this year, so you'll be able to keep Lorelai from the tops of Christmas trees." Rory just smirked and shook her head.

"Yeah well, for all we know you might just do the same," said Rory, "Haley told me about your butter fingers, Lucas." Lucas looked indignant at the accusation.

"I do not have butter fingers," said Lucas.

"Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?" said Rory. "You can prove it to me at Christmas." Lucas smiled at her and Rory felt herself blush. The diner suddenly felt crowded and she knew that she had to get out of there before she did something rash.

"You know, I just remembered that Lane said she had this c.d. that I could borrow and I'm going to go and get it from her," said Rory, "I'll be back in a few."

"Don't hit and run, Rory," said Lucas, getting up from his seat, "I'll just come with you..." he started to say, but before he even had his coat on, Rory had gone through the door and was on her way to Lanes.

Not even bothering to knock when Rory reached the Kim household she went automatically to Lanes room, muttering a hello to a very confused Mrs. Kim. Pushing open Lanes door, Rory collapsed on the bed of a startled Lane who was organizing her c.d's. "I can't take it anymore!" Rory exclaimed.

Baffled, Lane looked at Rory. "Can't take what anymore?" she asked, quickly putting down the floorboard over her c.d collection and sitting down on the bed next to Rory with a concerned look on her face.

"I can't take Lucas not knowing that I like him," said Rory, "its the hardest thing I've ever done. I mean, I can't just randomly walk up to him and confess my undying love for him. I'm not that girl. I'm the girl who has the guy tell her. It's just so annoying and he's not showing any signs of liking me, not that I would be able to tell the signs if he did...and its driving me crazy because every time he's near me I just want to lean over and kiss him."

Rory saw a flicker of an amused look on Lane's face but as quickly as it had come the look disappeared. "So," said Lane, "just kiss him the next time he gets really close to you." Rory looked at her with a bewildered expression, not quite sure what Lane was getting at.

"What do you mean, just kiss him?" said Rory.

"Make the first move," said Lane, "you kiss him. Lucas may not want to say what he feels because he's scared and a kiss might help him open up about his feelings. Take a leaf from your Moms book, and just kiss him whenever you feel like it."

"Kiss him whenever I feel like it," Rory repeated, the concept not even something that she had thought of and she wondered how reserved Lane had come up with such an idea.

"Kiss him whenever you feel like it," said Lane, patting Rory on the shoulder. It sounded so easy and yet Rory couldn't help but think about how complicated it was.

**_Tree Hill, North Carolina _**

"Rudolph the red nose reign deer, had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you could even say it glowed..." Karen Roe flipped through radio station after radio station annoyed that all she could find were Christmas carols. She wasn't in a very Christmas mood. Shutting off the radio, Karen turned to find Deb Scott there looking at her with an expression of pity.

"I take it isn't a very jolly Christmas for you, is it?" said Deb.

"No," said Karen, disgruntled. "There's no point in even celebrating it this year. After all, I'm going to be alone. My own kid didn't even want to come home for Christmas, Deb." Deb half smiled at Karen.

"Well," said Deb, "at least your kid still likes you."

Karen bit her lip, regretting complaining about Lucas not coming home when Deb's own son was in Tree Hill and wasn't coming home because he hated her. "I'm sorry Deb," she said, "I shouldn't be complaining. I've got the better end of the situation, and I'm complaining to someone who has more of a right to complain then me."

"Yeah well, it's alright," said Deb, "don't feel bad." She noted a plate of Santa Clause shaped cookies on the counter. "Mind if I have one?"

"Help yourself," said Karen, wiping off the counter. "Its not like my sons here to eat them or anything." Deb shook her head and took a cookie, content to let her sorrows be drowned in sugar instead of ranting like Karen.

"Although," said Karen, "I guess I should be glad that Lucas is staying with a nice family. He talks constantly about the Gilmores."

"Well, that's a good way to look at it," said Deb, "he's with good people and he's safe. That's it---keep on being positive. You never know...if we're positive for once the world might not end."

Karen cracked a smile, the first one she had in months. "Yeah well," she said, "perhaps you're right." Just then the door to the cafe opened and Deb and Karen looked to see who it was. Both of them were startled by the person who was standing in the doorway.

"Keith," Karen breathed, hardly daring to believe her eyes as she stared at him, looking tired with hair messed, and a bit more stubble growing on his chin then there had been when he had left Tree Hill...and for a moment the two just stood and stared at each other.

**_Stars Hollow, Connecticut _**

Lucas Scott reached up to the top of the Christmas tree so he could put the angel on, his t-shirt pulling up just a little, revealing his stomach. Rory watched on the couch, slightly transfixed, and then she blinked and looked down at the floor, a slight blush creeping up on her cheeks. She'd never been this way about a guy before. Even Dean hadn't made her blush this much. Dean hadn't made her have "impure" thoughts, and Dean most certainly had never given her the rush that Lucas did whenever he was around.

Rory wondered if God could peak into peoples minds, and she prayed that he couldn't. The things that went on in her head with Lucas there were not exactly something God would want to see. And now she was starting to think her head had been replaced with the brain of Mrs. Kim...

"Okay, there you go," Lucas said, putting his arm back down at his sides and sitting down next to Rory, "the angel is up and there won't be Lorelai mischief this year. No trips to the hospital." Lucas chuckled slightly, and Rory smiled.

"Thanks Lucas," she said, "I'd rather not have Mom wind up with a broken leg again. She was horrible the first time that it happened. It was an experience that I do not want to repeat, at all."

"Right," said Lucas, "well, I am pretty much the guy in the house, since I practically live here anyway. It's the least I could do." He sat down on the couch next to her, and Rory felt his arm brush against hers. It sent shivers down her spine. She cursed Lane and Haley for even thinking of the idea of her liking Lucas. Rory most likely wouldn't have noticed if those two hadn't thought of the idea. She would have been completely oblivious to the fact.

Sitting there in such close proximity with Lucas, Rory thought back to what Lane had told her earlier. She had told her to take the next opportune moment and just kiss him when it came. Well, she was in close proximity of him. Why couldn't she kiss him now? It was an opportune moment as ever.

"You'd better watch out, though," said Rory, smirking slightly, "Mom's really protective about that angel. _Obsessed_." She then added, "I'll be surprised if she doesn't go Gaia Moore on your butt."

Lucas laughed. That tingling feeling went down her spine again. Suddenly, everything Lucas did seemed to make her happy, make her have these weird, alien emotions that she had never felt before...It was new and strange, and something Rory had only read about in those teen chick lit books she'd been obsessed with at the age of twelve, when all she'd cared about was mentally preparing herself for what she thought high school would be like...

Suddenly she was Halley, and he was Macon, and she was becoming this new and different person with this crush. No, crush was the wrong word. She knew it wasn't just a crush. A crush was what Dean was. With Lucas, it was love, the real thing, not that puppy-love she had experienced with Dean. Of course Lucas didn't even know she was in love with him so what did it matter?

Biting her lip, Lane's words echoed through her head. Just kiss him. Lucas was looking at her now, his head cocked to the side. "Something up, Ror?" he asked, eyebrow quirked. Yes, she thought, I'm madly in love with you and you don't know it. But she didn't say that, and she resisted the urge to kiss him as well.

"No," she said, "no. I was just zoning out. Sorry about that."

"Its okay," said Lucas, "you want to go and get some food?" Rory forced a smile on her face. She didn't really want food right now because she was certain that if she ate something she was going to puke it up. But she didn't mention that.

Instead, she just sighed, and said, "Yeah. I'd love to go and get some food," and then the two went out of the house and headed to Luke's Diner. Rory inwardly cursed herself for not taking Lane's advice then and there. It would have been the perfect moment. But now the moment was wasted, and who new when and if she would get another one to act on her emotions.

Lorelai Gilmore found herself hating the snow, and that was a first for her. First, a guest had sprained their ankle while in a snow ball fight and was being as difficult as possible. Second, they had nearly been snowed in when a heap of snow had fallen from the roof, but luckily had managed to get a snow plow to remove it all. Then there was Michel, who was just...well, being Michel----just plain difficult.

A string of curse words came out of her mouth as she nearly tripped when entering the kitchen. A tantalizing smell hit her nose, and she knew that Sookie was baking something wonderful. Lorelai could do with something wonderful right about now. "Sookie," she said, "whatcha cooking?" Sookie shot her a stern look.

"Cookies," she said, "and no, you can't have them because they're for the guests. Last time, you ate the entire batch. You can not eat the cookies unless you are a registered guest here, staying in a room, doing whatever it is that guests do."

Lorelai snickered, feeling somewhat better. She could always count on that from Sookie. "Oh my god, I just thought of a million dirty things I could say to that," she said, a wry smile on her face. Sookie thought over her words, and her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Ew!" she exclaimed. "That _did_ sound dirty."

"See, it's not just me," said Lorelai.

Lorelai heard a clanging noise and turned in the direction of it. She saw the form of half a man stretched out, coming from underneath the kitchen sink. There seemed to be grunting and clanging noises coming from whatever it was that he was doing. "Sookie," said Lorelai, "who's this guy and what's he doing?"

"Oh, its Luke," said Sookie.

"Oh, hey Luke," said Lorelai, feeling stupid for having a brain fart. Of course the guy on the floor was Luke. He had on jeans and there was a bit of a flannel shirt sticking out from underneath. Who else would it have been? Besides that, she had asked him to fix the pipes last week.

Luke grunted a barely audible noise that Lorelai took to be "Hello" but she couldn't be sure since she didn't understand grunting. "Everything going good down there?" Lorelai asked. Sookie went back to doing whatever it was that she had been doing before Lorelai had come in, leaving the two alone. Luke poked his head out from underneath the sink.

"Well it would be if I didn't have a certain someone distracting me," said Luke, shooting her an annoyed look. Lorelai just smiled innocently as though she didn't know what on earth he was talking about.

There was a moment of silence, neither of them really knowing exactly what to say. "So," said Luke after a moment, forgetting the pipes for the time being, "Keith going to spend the holidays with you?" Lorelai noticed that there was something unfamiliar in his voice, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"No," said Lorelai, a little confused by his question, "no, Keith's going back to Tree Hill for the holidays. He's going to spend it with Lucas's Mom, and try to get her to marry him again."

"Oh," said Luke, his voice sounding different now, "well, that's good. I hope it goes well for him. So it's just you and Rory, I take it?"

"Lucas is coming over," she said.

"Well that's good," said Luke, "at least he won't be alone on Christmas. Why didn't he go home though, with Keith?"

"He's not ready to go home," said Lorelai.

"Ah," said Luke. Silence entered the room again, and he shifted uneasily from where he sat on the floor. Lorelai was then struck with an idea and decided to bring it up before she lost her nerve.

"Hey Luke," she said, "why don't you and Jess come over for Christmas? I mean, we're taking in one refugee, we can always take in more. Besides that, I'm not that great of a cook anyway so maybe you could bring some food or something if you want to, not that you have to." Luke looked at her, curiously.

Luke paused and appeared to be thinking it over. "Sure," he said finally, "yeah, that'll be nice. After all, I wouldn't want you burning the house down trying to cook and all."

Lorelai smiled, feeling pleased. She didn't know why exactly but she really was glad that Luke was coming to celebrate Christmas with them. That seemed to make her horrible day ten times better.

Rory and Lorelai walked down the streets of Stars Hollow the next day, Rory smiling as she looked about the town. It was strangely pleasant, of course Christmas time in Stars Hollow always was. Nothing could go wrong during Christmas. "God, I just love this weather," said Lorelai, "I can't believe I was so close to hating snow. But I love snow. I can't help it."

Rory chuckled, amused. "Yeah Mom, it's great," she said, and then added, "so, you didn't notice anything different about the tree when you came home, did you?" She silently prayed that she hadn't.

"Um...no," said Lorelai, confused by the question, "should I have...I mean, I thought it was still bare last time that I chec---" she paused mid sentence and looked at Rory accusingly. "You put the angel on."

"I did not," said Rory, which was true. She hadn't put the angel on. Lucas had put the angel on.

"Then Lucas put the angel on," said Lorelai. Rory squirmed and then walked into the diner, not answering Lorelai's question. Lorelai followed, ranting as she did. "I can't believe you let Lucas put the angel on. That's my job. I go, put the angel on, break something, and then we sit in the hospital during Christmas sharing my pudding. It's tradition."

Lucas who had already got to the diner sometime earlier because he had needed to return a book to Jess, looked up from where he sat at a corner table at them. "What's tradition?" he asked as they stood by the table. Lorelai glared at him and mumbled something incoherent. She then sat down on the far side of the table, away from Lucas and Rory. Rory sighed and sat down next to him.

"She found out about the angel," Rory said simply. Lucas winced slightly.

"Oh," said Lucas, and then he added, "she's not going to talk to us for an entire week, is she?"

"Nope," said Rory, shaking her head, "these silent nights are going to be deafening this season. "

"Well," said Lucas, "we could just blast frosty the snowman really, really loud and then we won't be left in the quiet." A smile crept up on Rory's face, and Lorelai sat quietly, stewing in her anger.

They had eaten their breakfast in silence, and then decided to go find something to do, and Lorelai headed to work. "So," said Lucas, rubbing his fingers together, "what's Lane doing today?"

"Church, church, and more church," said Rory, "it's always pretty much a lot of church around Christmas time."

"Man, that sucks," said Lucas, "and Jess has to work at the diner, so I guess its just the two of us today, huh?" Rory smiled at the thought and silently thanked whoever it was that was controlling the universe for granting her an entire day alone with Lucas. Someone was definitely being nice to her up there.

"Yep," said Rory, "I guess it is just going to be us. You and me, together alone."

"Oh the possibilities..." said Lucas, a smirk on his face. Rory had a vague image of Tristin come flashing into her mind. She wondered what he was doing for the holidays in that cold house of his, or back at military school, and then she pushed all thoughts of him away.

Lanes words echoed through her head over and over again. Just kiss him. It sounded so simple. She had another moment, another perfect moment to kiss him. They were in the middle of Stars Hollow, and everything was decorated, and a light snow was following---the perfect kiss, something that could only be dreamed of in a Reese Witherspoon movie.

"Lucas," said Rory, biting her lip in hesitation. There was a pit in her stomach as she realized that she was serious and she really was going to do this. She was going to kiss Lucas Scott, crossing a line that she could not go back over, changing everything that they had worked on the last few months. Rory Gilmore was being daring, and for Rory Gilmore to be daring, it was a completely new, strange feeling. Suddenly she become a heroine from one of those Sarah Dessen novels.

"What?" said Lucas. She breathed in the smell of him, a cross between engine oil (he'd been working on his truck that morning) and coffee which he'd had at the diner. It was a strange mixture, but one that was purely Lucas, one that Rory loved. Of course she loved everything about Lucas, so...

Rory took a deep breath, that nervous sensation in her stomach getting worse and worse. "I need to do something today," she said simply. Lucas looked at her, his brow furrowed, a questioning expression on his face.

"Okay," said Lucas, uncertain as to what was up with her, "what is it?"

"I need to do this," she said, and then took the plunge. The next second her lips were on his, and she felt a thrill go through her entire body. She wondered if this was what bungee jumping felt like. Lucas's tongue was trying to probe her mouth open, asking for entry and she gladly answered his request, letting it in. It was true what all those cheesy teen chick lit books said...that tongues danced when you Frenched.

Although their tongues weren't just dancing. It was a waltz. A beautiful waltz...

Rory didn't know how long they stood kissing like that but it was a good long while before they broke apart for air. Her brown hair was mussed due to Lucas running his hands through it as he kissed her. Lucas let out a breath, and she could see it in the cold air. They stood and looked at each other hard, not even noticing the few on lookers who were sending them strange looks.

Then the cell phone rang...Lucas's cell phone. Rory inwardly groaned. He'd been holding her, and now as the phone rang, Lucas let her go, the moment completely gone and ruined. Lucas avoided her gaze, unsure as to what to do, and answered the cell phone. Rory vaguely heard the hysterical sounds of Haley James Scott on the other end of the line. She heard only these words, "Nathan", "fast", and "accident."

The nervousness that Rory had felt when she had gone and kissed Lucas was suddenly replaced with that feeling you get when you're about to puke. Lucas said into the phone, "Haley, it'll be okay. Calm down." A pause. "Where are you?" Another pause. "I'll be there as soon as I can." He shut the phone off and shot Rory an apologetic look. Rory sighed and gave him a look that said it was okay.

She knew that they weren't going to have a chance to talk about their feelings now, if Lucas had any, or the kiss. Lucas gave her a hug and then walked off without another word. Rory silently cursed, and she was left watching him walk away as the snow blew around her, and strands of her brown hair stuck to her frozen, cold lips.

Rory made a mental note to write a letter to Reese and Sarah Dessen telling them that their movies and novels were nothing but complete and total rubbish. She kicked a pile of snow that was there, and then sat on the sidewalk, ignoring the fact that her butt was going to be numb from sitting on a pile of snow.

She was never going to have another Halley streak of boldness again. Ever.

This had to go down as one of the worst first kiss stories in history. Kiss a guy, and then he gets a call that his brother is in the hospital due to an accident and has to leave. Oh yeah, real romantic---not.

**A/N: Okay, so after about a month of being off in the world of teen angst and high school, I came back to the much pleasanter world of fanfiction. I was once told that I needed to make my kissing scenes better. I don't know if I needed to do so on this one, but I have an excuse for that. I've never been kissed. Mock me now, but I am the smart one. I'm not going to let some pathetic excuse for a human being kiss me and until I find a remotely intelligent guy, its not happening. Besides that, I won't get offers, either. So back off the girl who can't write a kissing scene, please? As a side note completely unrelated to this, high school sucks. Big time. Okay, on with the reviews. Note that I decided Rory would spend Christmas break in Tree Hill instead of Spring Break. She'll be going there in the next chapter, along with Jess, possibly Lane...heh heh. I'm thinking up more interesting ideas for relationships. I just thought it would be funny to have Tim like Lane. Heh heh. I'm insane. Did anyone watch Supernatural last Tuesday? I thought it was awesome. If anyones interested in starting a Supernatural fansite with me, e-mail or i.m. me. I really want to. Thanks to:**

**tristansgurlmary****: Thanks. **

**rebecca: Thanks. **

**lemonskoo****: Thanks.**

**hawaiiangurl361****: Thanks.**

**BeDaZzLeNpLaiD****:Thanks. **

**Sum41rocks****: Oh my god. Sum41? You met Sum41? You lucky, lucky person. :)**

**Caitlin: Yeah, it took her long enough. Heh heh. And now she's kissed him. Finally. :)**

**Toniboo****: Ha ha. I seem to be driving everyone nuts with those. But they did kiss though, so that's something. **

**readergurl87****: Thanks. **

**joellekyle0712****: You'll find out soon enough. ;) **

**MsJML****: Sorry about that. Well, they kissed now didn't they? Lol.**

**SlayerWitchGilmoreGirls****:Thanks. **

**SeXyDrAcOlUvR91Xo****: I changed it to Christmas break, but its definitely going to be interesting. **

**mel11****: Thanks. **

**P : I'm glad you like the chapter. Hope you like this one just as much.  
****Angelic Prefect****: Yeah, I liked that too, though when I wrote it, it seemed kind of cheesy. **  
**nancerz-****: Thanks. **  
**Peanutbutterluver1399****: Sadly, Lucas does. But Rory will go after him in the next chapter. It's all going to be very interesting. **  
**Marisa: Thanks.  
****omeomy : Thanks.  
****lkwREADer****:Really? I mean, she IS Rory. This is the girl who couldn't figure out that Tristan Dugrey liked her. I thought it was only natural she took long to figure out she liked Lucas. **

**beautifulbutterfly****: Aw, thanks. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Hopefully you'll like this one too. **

**Okay, so there's the reviews. **

**Hopefully I still have reviewers after my long absence. **

**lol. Anyway, that was chapter nineteen.**

**Excuse my sad attempt at describing a kiss.**

**Remember, I'm kiss-less girl here, so give me a break. **

**You'll get to see what happens to Nathan in the next chapter. **

**Jess and Rory will go to Tree hill, maybe Lane too, and Christmas will be celebrated there. **

**Dan will meddle. Someone's going to get asked a big question. It's going to be entertaining. :) **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **

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	20. Like a Shakespeare Tragedy

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own a single thing here. One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls are owned by the W.B. **

Chapter 20

"Like a Shakespeare Tragedy"

**_Tree Hill, North Carolina_ **

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish as fools." Mr. King couldn't have been more right. It was almost as if when he was saying that, he had been saying it directly to Lucas. Of course, Lucas knew that idea was ludicrous. That had been said ages before he had even been born, let alone thought of. Somehow though, the quote spoke to him.

He remembered it as he drove home. Not to his Stars Hollow home----to Tree Hill, his real home. Where had he heard that quote before? History class. They'd had to do a class warm up on it and what they thought it meant to them. That had been Freshman year. So much had changed since then.

_Nathan _had changed since then. He remembered how Nathan had been before----the arrogant, cocky jerk who thought he was gods greatest gift and was making Lucas's life a living hell. But then Haley had came in the picture--well, Nathan's picture, and had changed him for the better. Everyone had noticed. Lucas even remembered the teachers at the end of his sophomore year commenting on the change.

Nathan had redeemed himself. Hell, Nathan had even befriended one of the guys he'd been a jerk to before. So why was Nathan the one lying in a hospital bed? It should have been Lucas. He knew it should have been. After all, he'd been the one who went from being nice guy to all around ass wipe.

Peyton and Brooke could both vouch for that. Peyton and Brooke probably thought that Lucas should be in that hospital bed, not Nathan. He wouldn't blame them if he did. God, the world really liked to kick him in the butt.

Things had been going so good. He'd changed. He knew it. He knew it because Rory had yet to tell him to go screw himself for being a complete and total jerk. Rory had _made _him change. The girl wouldn't put up with him had he been the ass wipe he was last year. Then of course there was Nathan. They had finally started acting like the brothers that they were.

Nathan was more then just his brother, he was his friend. The fact that he was lying in a hospital bed right now in a coma made his insides churn. It should be him. It should be him, not Nathan. Nathan had so much more then he did.

He drove those last few miles and could breathe a little easier. He was actually in Tree Hill. That was something. As soon as the hospital was in sight, he'd feel even better. He'd be closer to Nathan and Haley.

At one point, Lucas had never thought this would have happened. Him and Nathan had never gotten along before. Of course it was probably a good thing that they did learn to though. Because if they hadn't they most likely would have killed each other at some point during their high school years.

A smirk almost crept up on Lucas's face----_almost_.

He turned down a street and he was aware for the first time of the coldness that had settled in the truck. Lucas turned on the heater and then continued to drive. He came to the hospital and went into the parking lot and found himself a spot to park. His stomach seemed to have dropped and turned into a bottomless pit.

He felt sick suddenly and all he wanted to do was turn the car around and drive away from the hospital. But he knew that he couldn't. He had to be strong----for himself, Nathan, and most of all, Haley.

Lucas pulled himself out of the truck with reluctance, and begrudgingly walked to the hospital. He was only half aware of when he asked for Nathan's room and was told that he wasn't in a room, he was in surgery right now. He headed to the waiting room and saw a figure stretched out on the chairs, asleep.

Lucas inched closer and sure enough it was Haley. He sat down next to her, and she moved in her sleep. The girls eyes flickered open, and she looked at him and a look of relief crossed her face.

Haley sat up, and gave him a hug. He hugged her back. There was no need for words. That was what happened when you had been best friends for so long. They sat there in silence, just hugging one another.

Lucas reflected on the day, suddenly overwhelmed and tired. It seemed like his whole world had come together and fallen apart all in the same day.He had almost gotten the girl, and now he just might loose a brother.

It was something like a Shakespeare tragedy. Things came together, and things fell apart. But Lucas was beginning to realize that it was all apart of life. All he had to do was accept it and move on.

**_Stars Hollow, Connecticut_**

She hadn't even need to say a word when she entered the diner. Jess had a sneaking suspicion of what was going to happen when Rory left with Lucas. When she'd come back, tears streaking down her face, she'd muttered something about "Lucas", "Kiss", and "Nathan's accident".

Jess had led her up to the upstairs apartment he shared with his uncle without a moments hesitation. He let her cry for a while, and he just sat there with her, letting her lean against him, uncertain of what else to do.

When Rory had recollected herself enough, she explained about the kiss, and then how Haley had called and explained that Nathan was in the hospital and how Lucas had gone off to Tree Hill directly after. Jess had listened, not interjecting at all, just letting her talk. Once the girl was finished, Jess expressed concern for Nathan and then suggested an idea.

He talked about convincing Lorelai to let the two of them go to Tree Hill to see Nathan and if everything was alright. Rory agreed with the plan and they'd headed to the Gilmore home and explained the situation to Lorelai. He noted that Rory had left out the whole Rory-kissing Lucas-thing out of it.

Lorelai consented as long as they took Lane with them and Lane was the one who drove, not Jess. So that was how Jess found himself in the back of his own car, with Lane driving, and Rory sitting up front. If there was a higher power, it apparently hated him.

"Lane, can you please drive faster?" Jess whined. Lane shot him a glare.

"No," said Lane, "I am going thirty five. By law, we are supposed to go at least thirty five. I am going fast enough. I am not going to pull a Lex Luthor and get us into a car crash by driving too fast, thank you very much, especially since there is no Clark Kent to save us from an untimely death."

Rory winced. "Can we please not joke about car crashes, considering..." she trailed off and they both knew what she meant.

"Sorry," Lane mumbled and kept on driving.

"Can we at least listen to something else?" said Jess. "The Cure is a bit too mopey, under the circumstances."

"Don't you even _think _about touching a Korean woman's radio," Lane hissed and she swatted at Jess as he tried to change the c.d. Jess glared at her.

"C'mon, this is ridiculous," said Jess, "it is _my _car."

"Yes, but I'm the one whose driving," said Lane, "deal with it."

Jess mumbled something that sounded a whole lot like "psycho" and sat back in the seat. What he wouldn't give for his mini-c.d. player right now. While he loved The Cure, he just wanted to listen to something else at the moment. Besides that, he thought the atmosphere was depressed enough already.

"Can we at least stop for food?" he wined. "I'm starving." Lane shot him a death glare.

"I swear, if you don't shut up----" she muttered, trailing off. Rory shifted awkwardly in her seat. This was going to be a long ride.

She hoped both Lucas and Nathan were grateful for this. She had to put up with the two of them bickering just so a) she had Lucas could work out their complicated romantic problems and b) she could go see Nathan and comfort Haley.

Rory had better get some kind of reward out of this. Oh what she wouldn't give for some coffee.

**_Tree Hill, North Carolina, Morning _**

Brooke Davis was infuriated. Receptionists really were annoying people. Honestly, how hard was it to give her Nathan's room number? Not that hard. Any idiot could do it. "No," said Brooke, "I am not a family member." It must have been the millionth time the dumb woman had asked that question.

"Well then I'm sorry miss, I'm afraid that I can't give you any information," said the woman, looking particularly smug. Brooke was beginning to think that the woman just liked getting into bitch fights for the hell of it. She was so going to slap her in five minutes.

Restrain yourself Brooke, she thought, keep it all inside. Be nice. You're trying to be a better person. Be nice.

Brooke smiled falsely. "Look, Miss, it's my friends husband in there," she said sweetly, "I'm trying to do the good thing and be a good friend. Now, can you please give me Nathan Scott's room number?"

The woman smiled and appeared to be thinking it over. "Well, I guess----" she paused and Brooke almost smirked. Yes, she was going to give in! The woman was going to give in---and she didn't even have to be a bitch about it. She knew being nice was going to get her far some day.

"Well, I guess I have to say...no," the woman said, her smile widening even more. Okay, that was it. Screw being nice. Brooke was pissed, and she wasn't going to put up with this anymore.

Brooke bit her lip, and glared darkly at the woman. She let out a breath. "Okay," she said, "look here lady, I am in no mood to be messed with. I don't know why you feel like infuriating me but you had better tell me where the hell Nathan Scott's room is in five seconds other wise I am going to get your ass fired."

The lady was looking at Brooke like she was one of the witches of East Wick. She blinked several times and then said, "One thirty-five." Brooke grinned in satisfaction, pleased at the effect she had.

"Thank you," said Brooke and she went off in search of Nathan's room. Once she found it, she found Nathan and Haley in there, Nathan laughing about something. She went in and glared at him.

"Nathan---William----Scott---don't---you---ever---scare---the---crap---out---of---us---like---that---again," Brooke said in between hitting a now bewildered Nathan on the shoulder hard.

"Ouch!" Nathan exclaimed. "Brooke, that hurt. Are you trying to kill me? I just had one near death experience, I really do not want another." Haley chuckled from her seat, amused.

"Serves you right honey," she said, "you shouldn't have given us a scare like that." Nathan looked at her and smiled. She was sitting in a chair right next to the bed. Brooke gave Haley a hug.

"Tutor girl, why didn't you call me sooner? I would have come," she said. Haley gave her a half smile.

"I didn't want to wake anyone up at one o' clock in the morning," said Haley, "besides, I knew you had just gotten in from your Christmas trip with your parents. I figured you would have wanted your sleep."

"Don't hesitate to call me next time, okay?" said Brooke. "I'm your friend, after all. Does Peyton know---has she been by already?"

"Yeah she knows," said Haley, "she'll be here later. She went on vacation with her Dad to go see an aunt of some sort, so she won't be back until tomorrow. But she is coming."

"What about----" Brooke was about to say what about Lucas but as she did she heard his voice coming down the hall. She cringed.

"Okay so I couldn't get the coffee machine to work, but they did have soda so----" Lucas stopped mid sentence as he entered, looking at Brooke with wide eyes. Brooke looked back at him.

"Insert awkward silence here," Brooke thought she heard Nathan mutter but she ignored him. Instead she just looked at Lucas and then shifted uncomfortably. Oh yeah, this was going to be a _lot _of fun. This was what she got for being bitchy to that receptionist.

Karma sucked.

"Um," Lucas paused, not certain what to say. "Hi there, Brooke." He suddenly seemed to find his feet very interesting.

Note to self-Next time there's an accident, make sure Lucas has left the hospital building, Brooke thought, and she gave Lucas an incredibly phony smile, shooting daggers at Nathan and Haley and wishing them a very painful death.

"This is your fault," Deb Scott snapped at her so called husband as she walked down the hospital hallway. "He wouldn't have gotten in an accident, or been in this position in the first place if you hadn't pushed him away, Dan."

"Oh, don't act like your such a saint yourself, Deb," Dan shot back, "you were every bit as responsible for this as me. You didn't exactly open your arms up to our sons marriage, making him get pushed even further away."

Deb glared at him. What she wouldn't do to strangle the man. "You were no Ward Cleaver about the subject, either Dan," she said, "you were every bit as upset about the situation as I was. So don't you dare suggest that I was the only one who had anything to do with Nathan's getting farther and father away from us. You played more a part in that then I did."

The 'happy' couple had just returned from their vacation that was supposed to 'bring them closer together' as their marriage counselor had suggested. Instead, being in the same place with each other had only managed to drive them crazy. It also didn't help that they had arrived home to find a message on their machine from a frantic daughter in law telling them that their son was in the hospital because of an accident that had happened.

Needless to say, being on speaking terms to one another at this point was not an option. Not that it ever was an option with the Scott's. Their marriage had fallen apart long ago, it had just finally reached its breaking point.

Dan opened his mouth to say something more, but Deb put her hand up to stop him. "Don't you even speak to me or look at me, Dan," she said curtly, "when this is over, we're getting a divorce. End of story."

She strode at a fast pace to the receptionist desk. "Nathan Scott's room, please," she said to the woman.

"Relation to the patient?" the woman asked.

"I'm his Mother," she said stiffly, ignoring the glares she knew Dan was shooting in her direction from behind. The receptionist checked her records.

"He's in room one thirty five," she said.

"Thank you," Deb said icily and she headed in that direction, not caring if Dan did or didn't follow. All she cared about right now was getting to her son.

**A/N: So, there's chapter twenty. Sorry to leave you with a cliff hanger. I know, I'm cruel and evil. We are finally in Tree Hill! Heh heh. Do you know how hard it is to look for a quote? I'd type quote in the search engine, and it would come up with, like, car insurance quotes. But I had to start it off with a quote since all One Tree Hill episodes do. Lucas is going to have to have a lot of talking with Peyton and Brooke. Lane, Rory, and Jess have an _incredibly _long road trip to Tree Hill. Dan is a big ass as usual. Someone's going to get asked THE question. And oh yeah, Rory's going to witness something she wished she never saw. In typical Tree Hill fashion, the drama's going to get stirred--big time. Also----I'm trying to get my book out there so that I can find a publisher. If any of you know of any magazines or anyone who would be interested in doing a story on myself and the book, please e-mail me. My E-mail address is on my account. You can also i.m me on my aim screenname, Tutorgirlhaley. **

**On with the reviews: **

**P: Sounds like you enjoyed the whole thing. I'm glad. Thanks for the offer to talk. I can always use someone to rant to. :) **

**xoxo** **: Thanks. No, I won't forget to update. I just am a lazy bum who takes a long time to update. **

**Nicole: Well, thanks. That makes me feel a whole lot better. Now I don't feel like such a freak about the whole not being kissed thing. I'm glad you liked it. **

**KeitaWolf****: You must have been absolutely desperate for entertainment to read it straight through. But thanks, I'm glad you did. Also, thanks for adding me to your c2 community. I'm glad you enjoy my Dean Bashing. I do my best. I am glad that you like it. :) **

**evangaline b****: Yeah, I heard Jess was coming back to Gilmore Girls. Its about damn time too, is all I can say.** **Maybe there's hope for Tristan, eh? lol. **

**potostfbeyeluvr****: Basically Nathan got into a car accident. He lived, as is evident in the chapter.** **I just wanted an excuse for Lucas to come back to Tree Hill. Heh heh. Unfortunately poor Nate had to go through bodily harm. Oh well... he lived, at least. :) **

**Sum41rocks****: Cool about the tattoo. Although I'd never have the guts to get one and my Mom would most likely murder me anyway. Heh heh. Typical Tree Hill fashion---something dramatic always has to happen to screw things up.**

**lukeandlorealilove****: Glad you liked the Roswell thing. I'm a little obsessed with w.b. shows in case it hasn't already shown. lol.**

**Sea4Shoes****: What can I say? I like keeping my reviewers on their toes. :)**

**Gilmoregirl7878****: Heh heh. I was wondering if anyone would notice the Gaia Moore thing. Yeah, I read the Fearless series. I recently got some cash for my birthday September 14---weeks ago---and spent it on Fearless books. The used bookstore I go to had like, half the series and I couldn't resist. My favorite one by far is probably 'Before Gaia'. Its cool because its the only series where you get to see how the character came to be. **

**fairieangel****: am glad you liked the chapter. Thanks.**

**Caitlin :ha ha. Way to go on the no kissing thing. Actually, I'm fifteen, as of like, several weeks ago. I am glad you liked it. And no, Nate won't die. :) Yes, Supernatural was very good. Its my new obsession right now. **

**JustPeachy123****: Heh heh. That would be just a TAD bit embarrassing. :)**

**mel11****: Yeah, Supernatural is awesome. I know, I'm evil for leaving cliff hangers. But I can't help myself. **

**joellekyle0712****: -insert evil laughter here- MWHAHAHA. I know, I'm evil. Cliff hangers are evil. But I promise, there won't be one in the next chapter. **

**soph: thanks. **

**Mrs. Rhett Butler****:) Thanks. Makes me feel a whole lot better. ;) **

**Marisa: Thanks. :) **

**Toniboo****: Thanks. **

**Fallen Heart****: I know, it's literally impossible to write kiss scenes in those circumstances. Luckily, I had chick-lit to help, so I looked at one of those teen romance novels for help. Don't ask--I'm addicted to Meg Cabot. **

**jmarit17****: Thanks. :) By the way, read your new Trory with Tristan as a gang member. I love it, but I was a lazy bum and wouldn't log into review. But I do love it, of course I love all your stories. :) **

**beautifulbutterfly****: Aw, thanks. I'm glad you like the chapter and thanks for saying that you like my writing. Means a lot. Yeah, I didn't really know what to do at some points, so I just through Luke and Lorelai into make it amusing. **

**tickle582****: Thanks. ;) **

**Bumpy Rider** **: Thanks, glad you read it **

**lackinglime123****: I know what you mean. Sam is too serious and Dean is incredibly funny. The show is good. I have yet to see bones, but I really want to. My Mom says its good. **

**Kylie1403****: I know, I know. Cliff hangers suck. And this is coming from the person who despises them and yet puts them in her story anyway. Yes, I am evil.**

**smartmonkey101: lol. Thanks. Glad you liked it. **

**KarahBella****: Thanks. ;) **

**lkwREADer****: Mwhahaha. Peyton and Jess. Banter central. Look out for Tim and Lane, also. Its going to be amusing. Tim's actually the one showing interest, Lane just ignores him. It'll be funny none the less. **

**HadLeeMay****: Thanks. :P **

**LoVe23****: Thanks. I also thought Tim and Lane would be hilarious and I'm glad you seem to like the idea as well. Just wait until its in the story. **

**Angelic Prefect****: Heh heh. I'm not saying a word. ;) **

**princetongirl****: Thanks. ;) **

**Okay, so my fingers hate me now and are cursing me. At least, if fingers could talk, they would be. **

**Have any Hp fans read the fic, Absolute shocker? It's a Lily and James fic and its brilliant. Go, read. **

**Be amused. Sadly, its not finished but I love it anyway. ;) **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	21. Overdue

**_Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman Palladino and One Tree Hill is owned by Marc Schwahn. Both are also owned by The W.B. _**

Chapter twenty-one

"Overdue"

**Tree Hill, North Carolina **

_"You're a few years overdue. I spent them waiting here for you"-The Getup kids_

"Wow Brooke," Haley said, "how'd you manage to get past the nurses? They're only letting family in." Brooke was distracted by the fact that she was thinking of a million different ways of killing her friends for not telling her that her ex-boyfriend who cheated on her with her best friend was going to be there. She stared at the floor, avoiding Lucas's gase, who was trying very hard to get her to look at him.

"Brooke," Haley repeated, "you still with us?"

Brooke came out of her death plotting, and looked at Haley. "What?" she asked, not having heard the question.

"Good," said Haley, "I just wanted to make sure you were still alive, and that I wouldn't have to...you know...call a nurse for you as well."

"Oh, I'm fine," Brooke said, "I actually have some place to be," she walked over to Nathan and gave him a hug, "you get better buddy, okay?"

"Okay..." Nathan said, looking at Brooke like she had grown two heads. She was acting very weird now, of course he should have known that she would have when she saw Lucas there. Right now he was just happy that Brooke hadn't killed Haley or him...or Lucas for that matter.

Brooke let go and walked out of the room, an angry expression on her face. God, why couldn't they have at least given her a heads up? Lucas was the last person she wanted to see, not that she still had feelings for him or anything. But it still hurt thinking about what he did...

Moments after Brooke had left, Lucas looked at Nathan and Haley and said, "I'm going to go after her," then exited the room leaving a very worried looking Nathan and Haley.

"God, I hope they don't kill each other," Haley said to Nathan.

He chuckled. "Well at least we're in a hospital," he said, "if they do attempt to kill each other, at least there's doctors around to fix any damage that's done." Haley glared at her husband and hit him in the arm.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "Hales, I was just in a car accident. What are you doing, hitting me?"

"We're in a hospital," Haley said with sarcasm, "there's doctors around to fix any damage I might have done." Nathan frowned at her, and Haley laughed, kissing him on the cheek.

Down the hallway, Lucas followed Brooke, calling, "Brooke! C'mon Brooke, just stop and talk to me."

Brooke turned around and looked at him, anger in her eyes. "What about, Luke? There's nothing to say. You said it all when I saw you kissing my best friend on her webcast, and then when you decided to leave Tree Hill for Nowheresville U.S. A instead of staying and dealing with your problems."

"Brooke," Lucas said, "come on, I thought it would be easier on the both of us if I just left. I mean, I know there was no way you wanted to see me."

"You're right, I didn't Lucas," she said, "and I still don't. But you know, we were going to have to deal with it sometime, and you just _left. _Are you so much of a coward that you can't face your problems?"

"I did face my problems," Lucas said.

Brooke rolled her eyes in disbelief. "An instant message to Peyton doesn't count," she said, "and you didn't even try to contact me. Instead you just let me wonder what the heck went wrong for months, making me think I wasn't enough for you for months, always wondering if I'd done something wrong."

"Don't think that, Brooke," Lucas said, "it wasn't anything to do with you. It was all me. It was all on me. I was the one who did it, I went to Peyton. You did nothing to make me go to her. I'm sorry that you ever felt that way."

"Well, it's a little too late for apologies," Brooke snapped, "I carried that guilt around for months, Lucas. Do you have any idea how I felt? Oh wait, you don't, because you _left_."

Lucas was a little pissed off at the way she was acting. She was trying to make it seem like he had done nothing to make amends with her or Peyton when he had. "Don't try and make it sound like I didn't say I was sorry, or anything else like that," he said, "don't make me out to be the bad guy. I explained it all in the letter, not in any instant message to Peyton."

"The letter?" Brooke's expression changed from anger to guilt.

Lucas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, the letter, the one that I wrote to you and Peyton before I left for Nowheresville U.S.A as you call it," he said, and then added, "you did read it, right?"

Brooke bit her lip, the guilty expression not reading her eyes. "No," she said.

Lucas looked at her, curious, eyebrow arched. "If you didn't read it, then what did you do with it?" he asked.

"Um..." Brooke hesitated, not wanting to tell him. She figured it would result in another yelling match. "Well, that's quite a funny story, actually..."

"Brooke," he said, "what did you do with the letter?"

"We..er...um...I..." Brooke stammard, wishing for some distraction to come along and stop her from having to tell him. None did however, and Brooke blurted out as fast as she possibly could, "PeytonandIhadabonfirewithit."

Lucas looked at her oddly. "Can you repeat that again, please? I didn't understand a single word you said."

Brooke took a deep breath and when she let it out, she repeated, "Peyton and I had a bon fire with it." She waited for some reaction from Lucas, but he simply looked at her, waiting for her to continue her explenation. "We didn't want to take all those old wounds with us, and so we just sort of...we just burned it, Luke. We thought it was better not to open it all up again."

Lucas laughed slightly. "Well, that explains your guilty expression when I asked about it," he said, and he was silent for a moment, then added, "look, I'm going to stay here with Nathan and Haley to make sure everythings okay for the two of them, but why don't you have dinner with me tonight at my Mom's cafe? We need to talk about this, so why not do it as soon as possible? I'd rather not be on your bad side the entire time I'm in Tree Hill. You can yell at me all you want then."

Brooke smiled slightly. "That sounds great Lucas," she said, "thanks."

"Your welcome," Lucas said, glad that he and Brooke were going to have a chance to work out their issues. Just as though they'd read his mind, Dan and Deb Scott came walking down the hallway, and Lucas's stomach dropped. Uh-oh, he thought, this can not be good. Brooke was apparently thinking the same thing.

"You'd better go do damage control," she told him.

"Yeah," he said, "we don't need Nathan getting anymore injuries then he already has by trying to kill Dan."

"You're right about that," Brooke said, and then added, "I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah, tonight."

Lucas turned to leave but was surprised when Brooke called after him and made him stop; she gave him a hug, and told him, "Welcome back, Luke." Lucas smiled and hugged her back, and then Brooke left and Lucas headed back to Nathan's room, hoping he could do damage control between his brother, Dan, and Deb.

Nathan and Haley had somehow found themselves kissing when they heard the cold laugh."Well, well, look at what we have here," came Dan's voice, "my son and his wife playing tonsil hockey in the hospital. You know, you might want to close the door next time. Anyone could walk in."

Nathan and Haley broke apart at the sound of his voice, and Haley was embarressed while Nathan was angry. He scowled at his father. "Thanks for the advice," he said, "next time, it will be closed to keep people like you out."

"Come now son, is that anyway to treat your father?"

"You don't deserve to use the word," came Deb's voice, who had just appeared by his side, and she added, "nor do you deserve to be treated like one." She walked over to Nathan and gave him a hug. "Nate, I'm so glad you're okay."

Nathan frowned. "Mom, don't act like you've been a saint yourself," Nathan said, shoving her away, "you've been just as bad as Dad, if not worse. Not only did you push me away, but you completely rejected my wife as well." He pulled Haley down onto the bed with him, putting his arm around her shoulders in a protective manner.

"He's right, Deb," Dan said, "don't come in and act like you're such an angel."

Haley, irritated by Dan's pressance, shot him an annoyed look. "Mr. Scott, if your not here to help the situation, I suggest you leave, because Nathan and I have some things to discuss with Mrs. Scott."

Deb looked at her daughter-in-law appriciatively and Dan scowled and left. "Thanks for that," Deb said, "I'll only stay if you want me to stay."

"Mom, nows really not the time to get into all of this..." Nathan started to say, but Haley looked at him pointedly.

"Nathan, she's your Mother," Haley told him, "we're going to have to deal with this sometime, why not now? You almost died and if something like that happens again, you might not be able to get a chance."

Nathan knew she was right, and nodded in agreement, though reluctant. "Okay Mom," he said, "you can stay. We really do have somethings that we need to work out."

Deb smiled, glad that they were going to get this chance. "Good," Deb said, "because I'd like to tell you first that I'm divorcing your father." There was an odd silence, and Nathan and Haley exchanged looks of surprise.

"Guys, I just thought you'd like to know that I just saw Dan and Deb out in the hallway..." Lucas walked in saying, and upon seeing that he had walked into an awkward situation with Haley, Nathan, and Deb realized that they obviously already knew that and it was time for him to go. "And you guys already know that, apparently, so uh...do I stay or go?"

Nathan smiled at his brother. "It's alright Lucas," he said, "you can just go. We've got somethings to work out."

A few hours had passed since they'd arrived in Tree Hill. Lucas was at the hospital visiting Nathan, and making sure everything was okay. Now there was just Keith and Karen, left alone to deal with their issues. She'd been surprised when his familiar truck had pulled up to the house, and upon opening the door and looking at him, the first thing that had come out of Karen's mouth was, "You look good."

There had been a moment of awkward silence, and Keith coughed out of nervousness, and replied, "Thanks."

They stood there staring at one another and neither one of them knew what to say. No one wanted to make the next move, although they both knew the ball was in Karens court. "So," she said, "you want to come in?"

"Ah, yes," Keith replied and she moved out of the way so he could. He looked around the house. "Nice to see the place hasn't changed."

"Yes," Karen said smiling, "I thought about it a few times, being so bored without Lucas here, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

Keith turned and smiled at her. "I'm glad you didn't," he said.

The stood there, each staring at the other and both a little uncertain. "So, you want to sit down?" Karen said finally, breaking the silence and the moment.

"Yes," said Keith, "that'd be nice." They both went and sat down on the couch, and the instant they did the conversation came easy, and they were both once again the same Keith and Karen they'd been before Keith had left. That's the funny thing about when you know a person so long---no matter which one of you goes away, and how much time passes during the seperation, the conversation still comes easy, and you are still two old friends, no matter what.

Nighttime found Lucas sitting at the cafe, preparing for Brooke to show up. He hadn't gotten any food out because it did not seem like the type of conversation where anyone would be wanting to eat any time soon. Instead he found himself preparing for it mentally, and inwardly cursing himself for agreeing to do this. What had he been thinking? This was only going to end badly, and he couldn't help but feel like running. No, he would not run. He would sit through this entire conversation even if it killed him. Besides, it would be preperation for the _other _conversation he was going to have to have with the girl that he really wanted to be his girlfriend...Rory...and he knew he was going to have a conversation just like this one with her especially after he had just left her in the middle of the sidewalk after she had just kissed him.

The sound of the bell that hung overhead the door ringing brought him out of his throughts into reality. He turned and saw Brooke standing there, looking at him expectantly. "Hi Brooke," he said.

"Hi Lucas," she said and then they simply stood there for a moment, until Brooke cleared her throat and said, "Let's just get this done with. This conversation has been _way_ overdue." Lucas nodded in agreement and walked over to a table and pulled a seat out for her and she sat down in it, then he sat down in the seat across from her, looked her directly in the eye, and took a deep breath, preparing himself for the conversation they were about to have, where they were going to analyze everything to death.

Lane Kim had finally given in and handed Jess over his car, and was now snug asleep in the backseat muttering something that sounded a whole lot like she was cursing Bono for going on tour with No Doubt that one time. "Stupid Bono...what were you thinking...dumb choice for an opening act..." Rory heard her best friend muttering in the back seat of the car.

Jess chuckled from the drivers seat. "Man, we need to get her a boyfriend," he said, "her entire life revolves around music and she's far too tense. I will never go on another road trip with her again, unless she relaxs."

Rory quriked an eyebrow at Jess. "And a boyfriend is your solution to getting Lane to relax?" she asked.

"Well yeah," Jess answered as though it were a no brainer solution to the problem, "what better way to get a person to relax then have them get a little something?"

"Jess," Rory said, "despite what you think, not every girl is into getting themselves _a little something." _

Jess laughed, "Rory my friend, not everytime a person says that someones 'getting themselves a little something' does it mean that they're talking to themselves. I was merely implying that Lane should get a little tonsil action, not sex."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Oh well," she said, "you never know with you."

Jess chuckled, even more amused. He looked to the other side of the street and said, "Hey, isn't the place you said we should be looking for called Karen's cafe?"

"Yeah," said Rory, "why do you ask?"

"Because if it is, then we're here," Jess said, parking next to the building that had a sign on it that said 'Karen's Cafe'.

Rory let out a squeal of delight. "Thank God!" Rory exclaimed. "I can finally talk to Luke."

Lane wokeup upon hearing Rory's squeal. "Did you just squeal?" she asked, looking at her bestfriend like she was crazy. Rory blushed slightly and muttered at Lane to shut up. Lane looked around her surroundings and grinned. "Thank God, we're here. Now I can go to the bathroom."

Jess turned off the car and took the keys out of the ignition and the three teenagers got out of it, stretching their cramped legs for a moment. They had been in the car for a very, very long time. Lane ran up the front steps of the cafe and went quickly in, and Rory and Jess laughed at her for her eagerness to use the bathroom. Jess opened the door and held it open for Rory, who went inside and looked around her surroundings. The place was nice. She could see why Lucas liked it. Jess came in and stood next to her and noticed that Lane was just standing there in front of them, motionless.

"Lane, you might want to go to the bathroom before you pee your pants," Jess said, "because I'm definately not cleaning up after you, and I know you want to, and I know Rory definately doesn't want to..."

His voice trailed off when he noticed what had made Lane stop. Rory looked at them oddly, and then she noticed what they were staring at as well. It was Lucas sitting at a table with his ex-girlfriend, Brooke, looking very guilty and shifting nervously in his seat. "Hi guys," Lucas said, "this is a surprise."

Lane gulped in fear of what might be going to happen next. "Uh, I'm just going to go look for the bathroom."

"Lane, you can't leave me here---" Jess started to say, but Lane was already on her way. Rory looked helplessly at Jess, who was heading after her.

"Jess, don't---"

"Sorry Rory, but I don't want to be here for world war three," Jess said and quickly followed Lane in search of bathrooms, even though Rory highly doubted that he actually needed to go.

Rory, Lucas, and the girl who Rory assumed was ex-girlfriend Brooke were suddenly left alone after that, and the tension was incredibly thick. No one spoke. Brooke, for whatever the reason, popped up from her seat after a few moments and walked over to Rory with a bounce in her step, and cheerfully said, "Hi, I'm Brooke," grabbing Rory's hand and shaking it.

Rory looked at Lucas for some sort of explenation, and he simply shrugged, just as uncertain as her. "Hi, I'm Rory," she said, not really knowing what else to do. She looked at Lucas and from the look on his face Rory half expected him to start hitting his head on the table in a few minutes. This was going to be interesting.

**A/N: So, after a long hiatus, I'm back. I know, I'm horrible for having left you with a cliff hanger and for not updating but life seriously got in the way. Let's just say I pulled a Rory in season one...with a Tristan involved...and then found out...well...lets just say I've been wishing I could kick myself for months now, knowing the guy has a girlfriend...if any of this makes sense. But even with guy problems, I still updated. Yay for me. Also, as a side note, I wanted to let you know that my book was published in march. It's called _Sandy Shores _and if your interested, you can find it on or on (its only available online right now, but if I can get enough people to buy it, it will be in bookstores). I will not answer reviews from chapter twenty as I did not update for so long and there's a ton of them now, but will answer reviews in the next chapter...if I still have reviewers left after not having updated for so long. Thanks you guys for putting up with me and my issues. ;) **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **

**P.S----For anyone who buys Sandy Shores, I am fully aware of the bad editing job. I don't want a million people telling me every little thing that was wrong. It was SELF-PUBLISHED after all, meaning that my Mom and I were left to do a majority of the editing ourselves. So give me a break, please:) **


	22. The beginning, the middle, and the end

_Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and One Tree Hill is owned by Marc Schwahn. They are also both owned by The W.B. _

Chapter twenty-two

"The beginning, the middle, and the end"

_There are three parts of every relationship. The Beginning, the Middle, and the End. Some people are in the beginning, others are in the middle of something, and then there are those who have come to the end. Everyone involved in each has come a long way to get there…like jesters traveling a road…destination unknown….but all will come to each of these parts, and when they get there, no one knows what will happen…and not all relationships start off in the same order…but the road traveled to get to each of those points is a rough one…and sometimes you have to wonder, is it worth it? –Wittyheroine _

_**The Middle **_

Lucas inwardly cursed whoever had made the feeling of tension, because it was a horrible feeling, and he also inwardly cursed Jess and Lane for leaving him and Rory to make the situation more awkward. He wondered vaguely if they had stopped by the hospital and if this was some scheme that the two of them had cooked up with Nathan and Haley while there. Lucas wouldn't put it past the two of them.

He saw Rory looking at him, her look clearly demanding some sort of explanation. He didn't know what to say, and hoped Brooke would get him out of this. Of course there wasn't anything actually going on, so it shouldn't be that big of deal...although he had to admit that it was kind of weird that he was just sitting there talking with his ex...In a cafe all alone.

Brooke looked Rory up and down, as though trying to figure out what kind of person she was. A smile crossed her face. "Nice to meet you," she said, "Lucas has told me so much about you."

"Vice versa," Rory replied, eyeing her warily.

"Well, come sit, I'm certain you've had a _really long _car ride," Brooke said and ushered her into the chair that was on the other side of Lucas. "Lucas and I were just catching up, you know, we used to date and we had some things to sort out. Well, actually it was more along the lines of I wanted to bitch and moan about what a jerk he was for leaving instead of staying and dealing with his problems and because Lucas is the great guy that he is, he put up with it and just listened. It was nothing more then listening going on here...and talking, but you know..."

Brooke was rattling and making an idiot of her in the process. She hoped this Rory girl got that absolutely nothing had been going on, except a lot of talking. Rory smiled and nodded in understanding. "You don't have to explain," Rory said, "it was just weird seeing two people sitting alone in a building."

"Well, Brooke wanted to talk and I was closing up the cafe for my Mom anyway, so I figured this was the perfect place," Lucas said.

Rory laughed. "He speaks," she said, a smile on her face, and she added, "easy there, Lucas. You can breath. No ones going to hit you, or anything."

"Good," Lucas said, relaxing somewhat, "because I don't know if you know this, but you hit hard."

"Yeah, I know it," Rory said, "Jess has told me various times, as have you."

"You hit Lucas?" Brooke said, and she smiled at Rory, "You've just become my new best friend."

"Hey, I thought we were okay," Lucas said, looking defensive.

"Oh we are, but it doesn't mean that I don't want someone around to put you in line every now and then," Brooke said, "Rory, you mind being the one to do that?"

"No, not at all, considering Lucas and I have 'issues' ourselves to work out," Rory said, looking at Lucas pointedly. Silence came, but only for a moment. Brooke got them both out of the weird moment.

"So Rory, just exactly _who _was short, dark, and handsome?" Brooke asked, referring to the guy that had come in with Rory and had instantly gone off somewhere with the other girl the moment he'd noticed the tension in the room.

Rory looked at Brooke surprised. "That'd be Jess," she said, "but he doesn't date cheerleaders."

"What a shame," Brooke said, "Mr. Broody would go great with my friend Peyton, Miss Broody."

There was movement from the other side of the cafe. "Ouch, Lane, jeesh---no need to hit me," came Jess's voice from the back of the cafe. There was the sound of something falling from there as well. Brooke, Lucas, and Rory exchanged glances and then stood up to go see what was wrong, but before they could, both Lane and Jess came out from the back.

"I-had-to-go-to-the-bathroom-you-idiot-and-tickling-me-wasn't-helping!" Lane yelled at Jess, in between punching him in the arm.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Okay, okay, I get the picture! _You can stop hitting me now!" _Jess said, rubbing his arm on the spot where she had hit him more then several times. Brooke, Lucas and Rory were looking over at the two in amusement.

Lane stopped hitting Jess, but that didn't mean she was happy with him. The look in her eyes told Rory that she was incredibly pissed, and so as to save Jess from possible injury, Rory got up and walked over to him and moved him over to the table where she was sitting with Brooke and Lucas, _far, far away _from Lane (who was busy muttering curse words underneath her breath).

Brooke smiled impishly at him. "Hi, I'm Brooke Davis," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. Jess shook her hand, a grin on his face.

"Jess Mariano," he replied.

Rory looked at Lane pointedly, waiting for her to say hi and introduce herself. "Hi," said Lane, "Lane Kim."

"Nice to meet you," Brooke said, "unfortunately, I can't stay and chat. I have places to go, people to see, so we'll chat another time." Lucas looked at Brooke with a 'help me' look, knowing that if it was just himself, Rory, and his Stars Hollow friends there was a possibility that the subject of the kiss could be brought up. Brooke mouthed 'I'm sorry' and then waved at them all and left the cafe.

"She was a very, very, interesting girl..." Jess said, "Too bad I have a 'no cheerleaders' policy when it comes to dating."

_Thunk. _The sound woke Peyton Sawyer up against her will, and she looked around her bedroom for the source of it, alarmed. She saw movement by her window, grabbed a pillow, and slowly got out of bed so as not to alert the intruder that she was awake. Then she heard the annoyed voice of, "I'm going to smash one of your stupid window panes one of these days, you evil, inanimate object!"

Peyton let out a laugh and turned on her lamp that was on her nightstand. "Brooke," she said, looking at her best friend who was on the floor in a position like she'd fallen there next to her opened window, "what are you doing? It's like one o' clock in the morning."

"Oh thanks, just demand an explanation right away, no, 'Hi, how are you my best friend in the entire world, get any bruises when you crash landed, need a band aid?'..._just skip the pleasantries entirely_," Brooke said with bitter sarcasm.

Peyton pulled at one of her blond curls. "I'm sorry," she said, "but when you wake up to the sound of your best friend creeping into your house in the middle of the night, pleasantries are the last thing you have on your mind."

Brooke noticed the pillow in Peyton's hands. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "P Sawyer, tell me you were not going to use a _pillow _to beat me up if I was an actual intruder?"

"It was the closest thing that was there," Peyton said.

"What were you going to do, have a pillow fight with the psycho axe murderer to the death?" Brooke said. "Yeah, that'll do a lot of damage...he'll be all nice and giggly right before he chops off your head."

"Oh yes, because you Brooke Davis, are one scary murderer...what were you planning on doing, rubbing me down with your nail filer?" Peyton asked jokingly, snickering. Brooke shot her a withering glance.

"If you're quite through laughing, Miss-I-use-a-pillow-as-my-defense-weapon, I have a very interesting bit of news for you," Brooke said, a mischievous smile on her face. Peyton looked at her questionably.

"Okay, this I got to here," Peyton said, "especially if it's so important that you couldn't wait until morning to see me and you were willing to risk life and limb by crawling through my window."

"Well, you're not getting anything out of me until you help me up," said Brooke, "I bruised my leg really, really, bad in coming to see you, helping me up is the least that you can do."

"Okay, okay," said Peyton and she bent down and helped Brooke up off the floor, and then closed the window that Brooke had climbed through. "Now just what exactly is so important that it could not wait until morning for me to hear about it?"

Brooke walked over to the bed and sat down on one side of it while Peyton sat down on the other. "First of all, Lucas is back in town," said Brooke.

Peyton shrugged, not at all shocked. "That doesn't surprise me," said Peyton, "his brother is in the hospital with a broken leg. Speaking of, how is Nathan? I tried to go and see him but Deb was there and they were having a real heart to heart and Dan was pacing in the waiting room with a scowl on his face, so I figured I'd better leave."

"Well I don't know," said Brooke, "I saw him, but only for a moment. Lucas was there and I got out of there as quickly as possible."

"The return of Lucas…how'd that go?" Peyton asked.

"It was…Lucas," said Brooke as though she didn't need to add anything else, "we yelled, he defended himself because of course he's completely honorable…I made an idiot of myself because we burned the letter instead of reading it which apparently contained his apologies to us, so he didn't leave without apologizing, so we can stop calling him coward now…and then he said we could meet at Karen's café and talk about it, so we did."

"That's great Brooke," said Peyton, happy for her friend that she had finally gotten to sort out her issues, "I'm glad you finally got everything out. I know it was bugging you there for a while."

Brooke looked at Peyton. "Don't act like it was all me, buddy," she said, "I know you've got some stuff to work out with Lucas too, P Sawyer."

Peyton was quiet for a moment, as though she were accepting what Brooke had just said. "I know," she said, "I just kind of want to put it off for as long as possible. It still hurts…does that sound completely crazy to you, to want to wait longer to talk about something that's only going to continue to bug me the longer I don't talk about it?"

"No, not at all," Brooke said, "we all deal things on our own time."

They sat there for a moment, not saying anything at all as for the time it did not seem appropriate to speak. Then a smile crossed Peyton's face. "So, tell me what you wanted to tell me so badly…I know it wasn't just the news about Lucas's arrival and your conversation with him at the café."

"Actually, its about what happened _while _we were at the café," Brooke said.

Peyton wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, Brooke, Karen's café is where I get my coffee. I don't want to have to think about you and Lucas getting down and dirty on the counter next to the coffee machine or something."

Brooke let out a laugh, "Okay, despite what everyone thinks about me, I will not have sex _everywhere_. I have my standards. If I'd wanted to have sex next to a coffee maker, I'd go someplace upscale and the place that isn't owned by my ex-boyfriends Mom…like a Starbucks."

Peyton snickered at her friend. "Seriously, Brooke, don't avoid telling me," she said, "if you wake me up in the middle of the night, you have to tell me _why _and it had better be a good reason. Because I can be very bitchy when sleep deprived."

Brooke smirked. "It's a very good reason," she said, and then continued, "okay, when Lucas and I were at the café, and we had just finished analyzing everything as much as it can be analyzed, in walks in Lucas's new girl from Nowheresville."

"Stars Hollow, Brooke," Peyton corrected her.

"Whatever," Brooke said.

"So, what'd she look like? Was she alone?"

"She's got brown hair, blue eyes, and is a complete and total Mary, as in, the virgin. You can tell. She also reminds me somewhat of Tutor-girl, aka Haley, and also kind of Hermione Granger-ish. I didn't really talk to her about that much or get to know her that well, so I might be wrong, but she just seemed kind of like it. She does however have a good sense of humor, which if you ask me is something Broody boy needs," Brooke said.

"Wow. Lucas dating a virgin…that's going to be interesting," Peyton said, "considering we know he's 'not that innocent'."

Brooke chuckled, and agreed with Peyton, saying, "Interesting indeed. Also, to answer your second question, she was not alone. She came with very violent Korean girl named Lane who I didn't talk to at all because she was too busy thinking up ways to kill Rory's other friend, Mr. Broody-leather-jacket-wearing Jess Mariano, who by the way, is totally hot and definitely your type. He so definitely seems like the type of guy who knows every song by 'The Disease'."

Peyton looked at Brooke oddly. "You mean he knows every song by 'The Cure'?"

"Oh well, I knew it was one or the other," said Brooke, "All your moody punk rocker bands are all pretty much the same. Moan, mope…I lost the girl…I hate the world…I ran out of eyeliner and am going to loose my coolness because of it and the fans will hate me for it…the same old thing."

"Whatever, Brooke," said Peyton, "at least my music isn't all 'I'm hot and conceded and a slut, so leave your girlfriend so you can have me'."

"Hey, they're Pussy-Cat dolls; they have a right to say that," said Brooke, "do not mock my idols."

"I thought your idol was Louis Vuitton," Peyton said.

"It is," said Brooke, "but it doesn't mean I can't have more then one idol. That's why they made a show about them…_American Idol, _anyone?"

"Pass," Peyton said, laughing at her best friends antics.

_**The Beginning**_

Keith and Karen were still sitting on the couch, exactly where they'd been for the past few hours, only now it was late…or early morning, rather, as it was somewhere around one o' clock a.m. The conversation had ceased, and they found themselves looking into each others eyes, content to sit there and just look at one another.

"So," Karen said, "did you ever...see someone in Stars Hollow?"

"Not really," Keith said.

Karen looked at him, curious. "Not really?" she repeated. "What do you mean by 'not really?'?"

"Well, there was a woman...Lucas's friends Mom...Lorelai...I had a thing for her for a while, even kissed once...but nothing came of it. It was obvious she was in love with someone else, even if she didn't know it, and well..." Keith strayed off, looking at the wall, then the lamp, anything besides Karen.

"Well what?" Karen said. "You can't just start to say something, and then not finish the sentence. It makes people suspicious and they won't leave you alone about it."

"I don't want to answer before I know what we are," he told her, "I'd rather not take a jump only to find that I'm going to end up drowning. I've waited far too long for that to be my ending."

"That depends," Karen said.

Keith quirked an eyebrow. "Depends on what?"

"Depends on what your answer is," Karen responded, a smirk on her face after she said it. Keith sighed in reluctance, knowing there was no way he was going to get an answer unless he told her what he had been about to say first.

"Well, my heart was here, in Tree Hill, with you," Keith said, "it's always been. I couldn't be in a relationship with someone else while I was still in love with you. That'd be wrong. I've always been in love with you, Karen, you and nobody else."

Karen was taken aback by his answer. She didn't think he still had feelings for her after she had said no to his first proposal. That was part of why he'd left Tree Hill, after all, because she'd said no...of course that was after Lucas was in the car accident that Keith had been in too, and she'd hated him for it. Times had changed though. A lot had happened since then, and her anger had simmered. She was still in love with him and opened her mouth to say something when---

"Ouch! Lane, you didn't have to push me! I said I needed a leg up, not a shove..." the unfamiliar male voice came from Lucas's room. Karen and Keith exchanged looks and went to go see what the noise was.

"That's what you get for tickling me when I had to go to the bathroom," came a girl's voice as Keith and Karen approached the door to Lucas's bedroom.

"See, I told you it was a bad idea to let Lane help him up," came a third voice, this time a different girl.

Then there came Lucas's laugh. "C'mon," he said, "you know you wanted to see that just as much as I did."

"That is _so _beside the point," the second girl responded.

"Okay, can one of you help me get in, please?" came the first girls voice, sounding irritated.

"Coming," the other girl answered.

There was more movement from inside, and there came a loud noise as though someone had fallen on the floor. Karen made a move to open the door, but Keith got to it before she did. Slowly, he opened it.

"Okay, so Lane and Jess are in, now its your turn," Lucas said, looking at Rory expectantly. Rory was confused and then realized that he wanted to help her get through the window. Rory had wanted to go through the door that led to Lucas's room, but Jess said that was always an easy way to get caught---although Rory didn't even want to know how he knew—and had agreed to go by window with reluctance. However, she had forgotten that it entailed Lucas pushing her through the window.

"I'll go last," Rory said, and Lucas gave her a quizzical look.

"C'mon Rory," he said, "you're too small to get through that window on your own."

"I'll take the door," Rory said, "Jess is the one who wanted to use the window in the first place. Besides, using the window makes me feel like we're sneaking in because we did something bad…which we didn't. If your Mom catches us, it will look suspicious. It's less suspicious if we go by door."

"Oh c'mon Rory, just join in on the fun," Lucas said, "when are you going to get another time to sneak through a window?"

"Probably never," Rory said, "because I'm a good girl and haven't done anything that requires sneaking through windows."

"Exactly," said Lucas, "so you might as well take this moment while you can, seize it, and live in it."

"It's just climbing through a window," Rory said, "you make it sound like this is going to be a life changing experience."

"It will be," said Lucas.

"And why is that?"

"Because you'll be climbing through _my _window," Lucas told her, a smirk on his face.

"Okay, never do that smirk again," Rory told him, "it freaks me out because it reminds me of your doppelganger, Tristan."

"Right, I'd be loosing points by doing that," Lucas said, "just come on, go through the window. I'll give you a leg up…you trust me, don't you?"

_You trust me, don't you? _Rory knew he meant it jokingly, because he knew that she trusted him. Of course, in Stars Hollow she trusted him. In Stars Hollow, Lucas was not surrounded by pretty cheerleader ex-girlfriends and old five minute cheerleader flings staring him in the face. But Rory knew how Lucas had been in Tree Hill, he had told her everything that had happened and what had driven him to go to a completely different state and live with his uncle. So to be quite honest, Rory did not trust Lucas right now, and she was terrified.

She was terrified that taking that leap of faith and kissing him would come back to haunt her now he was back in Tree Hill, back in the same town with the very girls who he had entered into a relationship with (both of them at the same time) in close proximity and the idea of him pulling the same crud he did with her made her completely terrified. Why? Because Rory was never a girl that liked being wrong, and she was certain that kissing Lucas had been right…and she hoped it didn't all backfire in her face.

_You trust me, don't you? _His words echoed through her mind again. No, not in Tree Hill she did not…but she hoped that he would prove her wrong. Not that she was going to let him in on this, guy she had a crush on and best friend or no.

So she lied, saying, "Yes, of course I trust you."

"Good," Lucas said, "then give me that leg of yours." She did as told and Lucas gave her a leg up and she climbed through the window, and he followed suit. He must have landed on his foot wrong or something, because the next thing Rory knew, Lucas was on the ground and she was sprawled out on his stomach, and she could here him breathing.

"Nice landing there, Lucas," Jess said, snickering and Lucas shot him a glare.

Just then the door opened and there stood Keith and the woman who Rory assumed was Lucas's Mom, Karen. She let out a groan. Oh God, she thought, what a great way to meet his mom…sprawled out on top of him.

Keith looked at the scene of Jess and Lane staring guiltily up at them and Rory sprawled out on top of Lucas's chest. "Lucas?" Karen said, looking at her son questionably.

"Hi there, Mom…Keith…" Lucas said, sounding slightly nervous.

Jess strode over to Karen, and shook her hand. "Mrs. Scott…it is Mrs. Scott, isn't it?" Jess began.

Karen shot him a glare. "No," she said, "It's _Miss Roe_. I'm not married and never have been."

"Ah, well, sorry about the mix up," Jess said, and he smiled apologetically, "I want to thank you for letting my self, Jess Mariano, and my friends here, Rory Gilmore, the one on top of your son (fine boy by the way) and Lane Kim (not really a friend but she tags along, can't get enough of me you see---OUCH! LANE! THAT HURT!"

"Well that's what you get for being a jerk," Lane informed him.

"You know you keep on telling me that but I just don't see it," said Jess, "how I'm being a jerk that is."

"You want me to count the ways?" Lane said. "Lets go down the list. Number one---"

Rory rolled her eyes at her two friends and got up off of Lucas. "Ouch---" Lucas exclaimed and she muttered a 'sorry' and continued getting up. She walked over to Karen, a smile on her face.

"Hi, Miss Roe," said Rory, "I'm sorry about the noise and the intrusion. Jess here insisted that we go through the window because in his demented mind coming through the door was just too easy. I'm Rory Gilmore." She held out her hand and Karen shook it, a smile on her face.

"Oh Rory, nice to meet you," said Karen, "you can call me Karen by the way. Lucas has told me so much about you…speaking of," she turned to her son, "Lucas, do you mind telling me just what exactly is going on here?"

Lucas stood up and walked over and stood next to Rory. "I'm sorry about sneaking in, Mom," he said, "but my friends came in to visit Nathan because they met when Nathan and Haley came to Stars Hollow and they were wondering if they could stay for a few days."

"I don't know Lucas, it is getting close to Christmas…I'm certain they'd rather spend the time with their families…"

"Not me," Lane and Jess chorused, and Rory and Lucas both shot them strange looks.

"Mom said it was okay for me," Rory said, "we don't have anything planned this week."

"Well, alright then," Karen said, seeing no harm in it, and adding as an after thought, "but I want the girls sleeping in a different part of the house."

"Good thinking, Karen," said Jess, "seeing as how Lane can't keep her hands off of me."

"See, that's what I mean about being a jerk," Lane said, shooting him an annoyed look.

Jess put his arm around her shoulders in a brotherly way. "Aw, c'mon Lane," he said, "I wouldn't annoy you like that if I didn't like you…"

Lane looked at him questionably. "Like a sister," he added, forgetting that there were two interpretations of the word.

"Aw, that's sweet Jess," said Lane sarcastically, "because you are freakishly like a very obnoxious little brother."

Jess looked wounded and removed his arm from her shoulders. "Okay, the whole me putting my arm over your shoulders?" he said. "Yeah, never going to happen again; I don't care how cold you are."

Karen looked at Keith, a wary look on her face, "And I agreed to this because?"

"Because they're good kids and they're your sons friends and they're in desperate need of a place to stay," Keith said, and he added, "now lets go set up beds for them before these to get at it any worse."

"Sounds good to me," said Karen and she followed after him her closet in her bedroom where she kept the extra blankets.

"So," Karen said, "Rory seems nice."

"She is," Keith said, "she's a real good kid, helped Lucas get over a lot of the stuff that happened here in Tree Hill...she reminded him of what a good guy he is."

"That's good," said Karen, "he needed someone like that, and after the Brooke and Peyton ordeal…I know he felt really bad about how things ended. I'm glad he had her to help him get over it. Are Rory and him dating now? It looked like it."

"Heh, your guess is as good as mine," said Keith, "I'm not certain just what is going on with the two of them. We'll probably find out in the next couple of days…although its not really their relationship unfolding that I'm interested in."

Karen nearly dropped the two sleeping bags she was holding. "Really," said Karen, "then whose relationship are you interested in seeing unfold?"

"Ours," Keith replied, "you never did get to give me an answer to what I said before we heard the kids coming in."

Karen smiled, pleased to oblige him with an answer since he had told her his. "I love you, Keith," she said, "I always have and I always will."

Keith grinned and leaned over the mound of blankets he was holding and gave her a kiss. When they parted, he said, "I was hoping you'd say that. I didn't want my coming back for Tree Hill to be for nothing."

"Mom, Keith---you might want to bring those blankets now---Lane and Jess are about to get into a pillow fight---" came Lucas's voice from the living room, followed by a _thunk_---"Lane, you're supposed to be aiming at Jess, not me! He's the one whose being a jerk!"

Karen exchanged a look with Keith and they both grinned. "Come on," he said, "we'd better get out there before the two of them start world war three."

_**The End **_

Dan was sitting in the living room in front of the fire place. He heard her car pull up to the drive. He'd been waiting for her to get home since he'd left her at the hospital. The door opened, and he heard her come in. "Where have you been?" he wanted to know.

"The lawyers," Deb responded tonelessly. Dan let out an amused laugh and got up from his seat and walked over to her.

"Deb, really, you've got to drop this act," he said, "you're making yourself look very foolish. I know you're not going to divorce me. You've had years to, so I don't think you're going to do it now."

Deb closed the door. "Oh but I am, Dan," she said, and she looked him straight in the eye, something she had never done before. This look was a strange one to him, one he had never seen on his wife. It was determined, one that said she wasn't going to back down. "I'm going to divorce you once and for all, and when I do, I'm going to get every single thing you own, and you are going to have nothing….you won't even have to adjust…because that's what you've got now, Dan…nothing."

"Keep up your charade, Deb," Dan said, "I know you're just doing this to try and get to me. You'll put this silliness to a stop soon." As the words spilled out though, and as he kept looking at her, Dan was not convinced.

Deb ignored his comment. "Grab some blankets, Dan," she said, "your sleeping on the couch tonight." She walked off to their room and Dan watched her go and continued standing in the same spot after he heard the bedroom door slam closed.

Dan walked over to his seat by the fireplace and picked up his cup of whiskey. He took a swig, then set it back down on the stand next to his seat, and sat down. He looked into the flames of the fire, and the sinking realization that he was loosing everything came to him yet again as it had been coming so many times that year...and his only comfort was the fire, the one thing that had yet to burn him…

**A/N: Dan's loosing everything. Mwhahaha! Reading the reviews, I was reminded yet again of why I love this site…it is such a great way to build self-esteem! You guys are all awesome and I'm so glad you all came back and read and reviewed the story. I figured after I'd been gone so long, I wouldn't have any reviewers left! Your just so loyal and I love you guys for it! Thanks so much.**

**In reference to 'how I pulled a Rory' other wise known as my boy problem….nothing bad happened…I just realized too late that I liked a guy after telling him that I hated him for three years and I didn't realize I liked him until he got a girlfriend. No worries here though. I'm getting over him because its pointless for me to like him, considering he won't even speak to me now, which I don't blame him for at all. Of course, he can't blame me for hating him either. Little jerk pestered me by saying he liked me just so he could annoy me in the sixth grade and then all his friends went and did the same thing and he acts as though he's _completely innocent_. Strange, I know…calling the guy I like a jerk…. **

**Now, onto the reviews…. **

**LoVe23: Aw! Thanks for the congrats and I'm glad that your glad that I'm back. I really am surprised that I actually got any reviews considering how long I was gone. And yes, I did have an authors note up there for a while, and I'm sorry that caused you problems with sending a review. Am pleased to be of service in making you laugh with the chapter. And thanks for everything! ; ) **

**Solodancer: I'm glad you think the book sounds good, because I thought the summary the publishing company made up was kind of cheesy…but if everyone else likes it, that's good! And it's really, really good if people like the book, so hopefully you will when you get it if you get the chance to order it. As to the Rory thing, yeah, it sucks, but I'm getting over it. The guy has a girlfriend and won't talk to me anyway (I did tell him I hate him for three years after all) so its completely pointless to continue liking him. I am VERY glad you liked the chapter and am also pleased that you recommended me for something and that you think I have talent even though I'm not really sure about that part and was not completely clear about what your recommending me for, but you are thanked very, very, much for your kind words. Thanks again for saying what a great job I'm doing (its nice to hear) and I'm glad that you consider me your friend because I like to think of all you guys as my friends, because it seems like it. And I'm glad your proud! hugs Thanks for everything! ; ) **

**Imconfused247: Thanks! At least I know someone wants to buy it. ;) I've only sold six copies, which is better then none I suppose. Any help I can get is awesome, so yours is much appreciated. I warn you though, the editing job in it sucks because my Mom and I were left to do it, so when you do read it, I beg of you, please don't point out all the errors. I know they're there, trust me. Thanks for reading and I'm glad you liked the chapter. ; ) **

**JanelleRae: Wow. I don't think I deserve any of the lovely compliments you gave me, but thank you! I'm very pleased you like my work so much and am even more so pleased that you think I'm one of the best writers on the site. I am definitely pursuing writing as a career. Actually, if your interested, I just self-published a book I wrote called Sandy Shores and it's now on w w w. a m a z o n . c o m (remove spaces from url when you put it in the search engine) if you want to get it. The editing job sucks, but my Mom and I did the editing job on it, so just don't pay attention to that. Thanks so much for reading and I will update as much as possible. Promise! ; ) **

**SnowyOwl-17: Yes, I'm back and glad to be! There will be _many _problems in the works…coughDancough and the whole thing with Brooke, Lucas, and Rory will work out. Right now though, Rory's a bit freaked because she knows how Lucas was in Tree Hill because he told her and she is afraid he'll slip and go back into his old ways now that he's back home and she's worried she'll end up getting heart broken again and so she's going to be a bit hostile until they get a chance to talk. But don't worry. Happy endings will come. ..and as you see, Keith and Karen end up together. There will definitely be more of them. Lorelai and Luke I'll work into the story line somehow… Thanks for reading and the review! ; ) **

**Rockrose: I hope I continued soon enough. Thanks for reading and the review! ; ) **

**TristenLover: Yes, I'm back and so is the fic! I promise to continue and you will not be left hanging. **

**Angelic Perfect: Mwhahaha. Lucas is _definitely _in trouble and it's only going to get harder for him until he and Rory finally talk…all will end well, don't worry. Thanks for the compliment and I hope the update came soon enough! ; ) **

**Just hidden: Glad you liked the tension. And of course I'm back. When I say a fic will be finished, it will! Thanks for the read and the review. ; ) **

**Bookluvr16: You're very welcome. I missed my reviewers. I promise to update asap. Thanks: ) **

**TuggyAngel08: I'm glad you love it. Thanks! ; ) **

**Fallen Heart: Thanks. I can always use someone to talk to. But I'm handling it. Just issues with a guy I need to get over, which I am. I missed you too! hugs Glad you liked the chapter, and thanks again. : ) **

**melako17: Thanks for the read and the review. ; ) **

**coffeeaddict1515: Thanks for the read and the review! ;) **

**lackinglime123: thanks for the read and the review! ; ) **

**Pearls24: Thanks for the congrats and I'm always happy to update, especially after a long hiatus. Okay…so even though it may mean boring you, I will tell you my boy problems. What happened was, I told this guy (who annoyed me for ages) that I hated him and then realized that I liked him this year only this was after he got a girlfriend so now its completely pointless to like him and it took a while to try and get over the whole thing. I'm not over it completely, but I'm getting there…I think.. and things will definitely work out with Lucas, Brooke, and Rory. It's just going to take a little while. Thanks for everything! ; ) **

**Princetongirl: Thanks for the read and the review! ; ) **

**As always guys, you are AMAZING and I love you for it. I'm glad you all came back. Also, for those of you who had trouble posting a review, I'm sorry about that. I had an authors note posted up there for a while, explaining why it was taking so long to update and telling everyone about my book finally being published, but the website took it down, so I'm sorry about that. **

**Once again, anyone that's interested in buying my book or just looking to see what its about, the book is called Sandy** **Shores** **and is on w w w . a m a z o n . c o m ( just take the spaces out when you put the url in the search engine). If you guys can get any websites to advertise it out there, that'd be great as well…like One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls websites…just mention that I write fanfiction for the shows in an e-mail or something and tell them about the book. I need all the free advertising I can get and if you can get some website to mention it on there that'd be really great and much appreciated. Thanks again you guys. **

**Love n' Stars, **

**Cambria** **Covell aka Witty Heroine **

**P.S If you do decide to buy my book, I warn you that the editing job in it sucks because my Mom and I had to do it so it would be really great if you could just ignore all the editing mistakes and not tell me about them…because I already know they are there, so there's no point in it and it's really annoying as well. I'm certain you guys can sympathize with me on this. **


	23. Of Tragedies, Idiots, and Misunderstandi

_**Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill are owned by The CW. I am in no way affiliated with either. Just a mere fanfiction writer who likes to put the characters in strange situations. **_

_**A/N: I'm back and better then ever. Reviews appreciated. **_

Chapter Twenty-Three

Of Tragedies, Idiots, and Misunderstandings

The thing about going back home is that you meet up with your past. Then, your past interferes with your present. If you asked Lucas Scott, he would say that he had reached a content stage in his life. Things were normal. He had a possible girlfriend (if he didn't screw things up this time), good friends, and he hadn't gotten into any car wrecks lately. Lucas was in love, and he knew it.

Rory Gilmore was the girl who was impossible to not let into your heart, and a girl you could never forget. She was clever, kind, witty, and a person who you couldn't help but want to let into your life. But once upon a time, there had been another girl Lucas had thought he wanted...a girl by the name of Peyton Sawyer.

She was a girl that you couldn't forget either…and Lucas, well, he thought that maybe she might have thought that he was a guy you couldn't forget. That wasn't to say he was cocky and thinking highly of himself, but considering how he'd left things with her, it wasn't as though the situation was forgettable.

Perhaps it was being back in Tree Hill that got him thinking about these things again…feeling that regret again, for screwing up so badly when he was there. Or maybe it was being around Rory these past few months, and having her make him want to be better then that person he'd been all those months ago. Whatever the case, when he woke up the next morning, he had only one thing on his mind.

He needed to make things better between him and Peyton, before he could even think about starting something with Rory. Because Rory…well, if he ever had a thing with her, that was not something he wanted to screw up.

He got up and found his feet touching something that definitely wasn't carpet. In fact, it was a little squishy. It also felt oddly like---

"Lucas, man, get you're stinky ass feet off me!" Jess exclaimed. "I'm not a freaking barrel of grapes, and you're not making wine."

Lucas jumped, having forgotten that Jess had slept on the floor of his room that night. "Man, I'm so sorry!" he apologized, running a hand through his hair. "I forgot that you were there."

"Apparently," Jess said, getting up. He sniffed the air and said, "Alright. I smell pancakes!" he clapped his hands together, excitedly.

"Don't get too excited man---if its Rory cooking, we're in deep trouble," Lucas said.

A scared look crossed Jess's face. "If that's the case, we're all going to die," he said, moaning slightly, and he headed into the living room of the house with out the enthusiasm he had once had. Lucas chuckled slightly and followed.

When they went to the living room, Lucas saw that (thankfully) it was his Mother cooking. Oddly enough, the girls were nowhere insight. "Mom, I know you have issues sometimes with the fact that your little boy is growing up, but really, killing both my female friends in the middle of the night? Tut tut."

Karen looked up from her cooking at him with a smile. "Oh, trust me," she said, "if anyone's going to kill either Lane or Rory in Tree Hill, it won't be me. Although Brooke might bore them to death with her talking on their shopping excursion."

Lucas and Jess looked at each other. "Shopping excursion?" they both said in unison, surprised.

"I thought Rory left a note for you," Karen said, "she told me that she did."

"Maybe I missed it," Lucas said and then he went back into his room to check and see if he did. Rummaging through the stuff on his nightstand, he didn't find one.

Lucas felt his stomach sink slightly. Rory had been a little off last night. It wasn't just the awkwardness of seeing him after they had kissed either. He knew her well enough to know that something had been troubling her. She'd gotten that distant look on her face and he couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong.

_Maybe its Brooke, _he thought, _maybe she thinks we're together again so that's why she's keeping her distance. _

He shook the thought off. It couldn't be Brooke. If it were, then Rory wouldn't have gone gallivanting off with her to go shopping. You don't make play dates with people who you think could be getting in the way of something that you want.

Whatever the case, something was wrong. Lucas sighed. _Girls, _he couldn't help but think, _are the most complicated people on the planet earth. _He shook his head and then went back into the kitchen.

"There wasn't one there," he told his Mom.

"Oh," she said, noting the look on her sons face and sending him a pitying look. Lucas hated that look. He knew that her Mom's intuition was sensing that something was wrong, and for once, he wished that she didn't have that ability to know that there was something weird going on. "Well, maybe she just forgot about it."

"Yeah," Lucas said although he exchanged looks with Jess and the look on Jess's face said that he thought the same thing as Lucas---it was doubtful that Rory would forget anything.

It was in Rory Gilmore's nature to look at cheerleaders as giggling idiots. It was the way her Mother had viewed them, and it was the way that she had viewed them because of that. Despite Lane's stint as a cheerleader, Rory still cringed every time she saw one. But Brooke Davis was different. Brooke Davis was actually pretty cool, once you got past all the rah, rah, sis, sis, bam boom stuff.

"This modest, but very, very pleasing building is the Tree Hill mall, my friends," Brooke said as she lead the way into the building, "it doesn't exactly carry high fashion, but we've got some pretty decent stores that carry some good designers."

"We're not exactly designer savvy," Lane informed her.

"Yeah. We're more of the kind of people who don't look at who its made by," Rory added.

"Ah, young grass hoppers, then I have much to teach you," Brooke said in a mock wise voice. She dragged the two girls into one of the stores, and Rory and Lane exchanged looks of horror, both of them wondering just what was waiting for them.

Peyton Sawyer was used to living on her own. With her Dad in the shipping business, it was something she'd had to get used to at a very early age. The one thing her Dad had instilled in her mind ever since the first time that he left her alone was, 'Be prepared for anything'. So Peyton was prepared.

She kept a bat underneath her bed for safe keeping just incase someone ever broke in the house, and had nine one one on speed dial on her cell phone. Of course, last night, with Brooke sneaking in, did not show her being prepared. After all, what idiot would attack someone with a pillow? But she had been caught off guard then.

This time though, she was prepared. Jolted out of her trance like state she always went into when she was drawing, she heard someone moving around down stairs. Of course, she knew no intruder would be stupid enough to break in during the daylight. But still, there was always that possibility.

She quickly put down her art work and grabbed her bat from underneath her bed and went out into the hallway by the staircase, waiting, holding her breath in anticipation to see who it was, prepared to strike just in case.

The footsteps were coming closer and closer. Without thinking, Peyton jumped out from behind the wall where she was hiding and she raised the bat over her head, ready to strike, and then screamed in surprise just as the intruder let out a yell.

"Peyton, what the hell?" the intruder exclaimed, and Peyton jumped back in surprise, realizing that this person wasn't an intruder but that she knew him.

"Damn it Lucas, you about gave me a heart attack," she said, putting down the bat and laughing nervously.

"Hey, you're not the one who almost got clobbered with a baseball bat," he said, "what the hell are you doing with that thing anyway, Peyton? I know you've got some resentment towards me, but seriously, beating me with a baseball bat? I'd like to think I wasn't _that _horrible to you."

Peyton laughed again, this time easily. "I'm so sorry Luke," she said, "I thought you were someone trying to break in."

"Yeah, well, I'm not," he said.

There was a moment of awkward silence and Peyton let out a sigh. "So, I guess this was inventible, huh?" she said.

"Pretty much," he said. Another awkward pause. "Listen, Peyton, I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now but…can we go somewhere and talk? I've got something else going on, and I need to make things right with you before I can do anything about it. Because I don't want to go into this thing that I might be going into only to screw it up."

"Does this something have anything to do with a small town girl by the name of Rory Gilmore?" Peyton asked.

"How'd you know?"

"Brooke," she said, "you know she can't keep a secret."

"I should have figured," Lucas said with a chuckle, "so what do you say?"

"Okay, okay," she said, "anything to stop another girl from getting her heart run over by the Lucas Scott train."

"Very funny," he said with sarcasm. Peyton and Lucas left her house and then went for a walk. They didn't know where they were going. But they had a lot to talk about, and there were plenty of places to talk.

The thing about a persons world falling apart is that you're never given any warning. It could be a normal day, and then suddenly, a piano could fall on your head. That's just an example, of course. The basic point is you don't get a warning. You don't know when you're going to lose it all. When it does happen though, it can happen to anyone. People would prefer it happen to the assholes of the world, but unfortunately, it can happen to the good people though. Every once in a while however, someone who really deserves it will get what's coming to them.

Dan Scott was one of those people who didn't know his world was falling apart. Last night though, it had become very clear to him. Then, this morning, while he was at his dealership, it became even clearer, so clear, it was blinding.

It was during his lunch break. As always, Dan took lunch in his offices, ordering something from one of the neighboring establishments and then started on some paperwork as he ate.

There was a knock on the door and his secretary came in. "Mr. Scott, there's a call for you," his secretary, Judy, told him.

"Can't it wait?" he snapped. "I'm kind of in the middle of my lunch break."

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, "the man who called said it was urgent that he speak to you."

Dan sighed. "Fine," he growled, "but next time someone calls during my lunch, tell them to leave a message. I like to eat my food in peace."

The secretary muttered an apology and told him that she would and then left. Dan picked up the phone and said, "Hello?"

"Yes, hello," said a male voice, "this is Mark Masterson. I'm calling on behalf of your wife."

"Regarding?" Dan asked.

"You're divorce," the man replied.

_She's done it, _he couldn't help but think, _she's done it. She's filed for a divorce. _

Dan took a deep breath. Then, calmly and coolly he said, "I'm afraid you're mistaken. My wife and I are perfectly happy. If you ever call here again, I will find some way to file harassment charges against you. Goodbye."

He slammed the phone back into its cradle and he felt himself breathing hardly. His entire body was shaking. Suddenly, he didn't feel very much like eating.

Though some would say the villains in our lives aren't human, the fact of the matter is that they all are. There's a reason why they do the things they do and they have had good moments and bad just the rest of us. Most of all, they have had tragedies like the rest of us. Only, unlike the rest of us, they are the few who let tragedy overcome their lives. Because they look to the darkness instead of the light.

Divorce to some is a tragedy, depending on the circumstances. For Dan Scott, it just might be his breaking point, the one thing that will lead to his end as the villain, his end as anything.

He sat back in his chair, feeling pain like he had never felt before. What had brought him to this point, this point where he was losing, no, had lost everything? There had to be an exact year, month, date and time that he had started turning into the man that he was.

The only problem was that being the man that he was didn't bother him. He might feel regret, but the regret was overcome by anger…and an angry villain was never, ever a good thing.

There were certain persons people wished never to encounter. Tim was one of them. Tim was a member of the Tree Hill Ravens, Nathan's crony and lap dog, and all around idiot. Actually, to call him an idiot was putting it lightly. To be completely honest, Tim was so completely stupid that his very existence was a complete and total waste. He should have had a big sign on his forehead that said 'approach with caution'.

Lane Kim didn't know this. Lane, being a Tree Hill tourist, was completely naïve to these facts about Tim. However, Lane was not stupid. It would not take her long to realize that the person who was now approaching her was a moron and that she should run away screaming for help as soon as she was able to. Or kill him, whichever came first.

"God, I've had so much coffee that I feel like I have an entire lake in my stomach," Rory told her. The two of them were sitting at Karen's Café after their shopping excursion with Brooke (Brooke was there too but currently chatting up not one, but two guys) and Lane was distracted by this comment and did not notice the trouble that was approaching her.

"Bow chica bow wow," came a voice from behind Lane in a kind of perverted way, "you know, you look like a girl who could use some lovin'." Lane jumped upon feeling a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find a blond guy staring at her.

"Ew," she said, "um, first of all, I don't know you. Second of all, I want you to go away." No, it certainly didn't take her long to figure out that Tim was a complete idiot.

"Oh, come on," he said, "you know you want to know everything about Tim. Come on. Let me show you some fun you'll never forget."

Rory chuckled. Lane glared and she whispered, "Hey, don't you laugh," she said, "you're my best friend. You're supposed to get this idiot away from me as fast as you possibly can. Do your flirty thing and distract him."

"I can't do the flirty thing," she said, "remember, I'm possibly spoken for."

"Spoken for? You sound like one of those chicks from a Jane Austen novel," she said.

"Then that's even more reason for me to not flirt," Rory told her, "if I have a chance of getting my Mr. Knightly or Darcy or whichever one Lucas represents for me, then no way in hell am I going to ruin that chance. Now, go on, you're lover boy is waiting for you."

"You so suck," she muttered and then she turned to the guy who called himself Tim. Although she really considered him to be a complete idiot and not deserving of a name to begin with.

"Tim, is it?" she said.

"That's my name, baby," he said, "you know that you want to wear it out."

Rory, who was watching with interest, laughed. Lane looked at her and glared with a look that said that she was going to kill her later for letting her get caught in this situation. Rory quickly looked back at her table and then she tried hard to get herself to stop laughing.

"Tim," Lane said, "Tim, Tim…you…you seem like you're an interesting...spec----person, I mean, person."

"You know it," he said, smirking and looking pleased with himself.

"But the thing is," she said, "I'm spoken for."

Rory who was taking a drink of the soda she had laughed so hard that soda came out of her nose. Oh yeah, she thought, if I'm so lame Lane, then why are you using my words?

"Spoken for?" Tim said, looking as though he were trying to figure out what that met and it was a little too difficult for him to figure it out.

"I've already got a man," she said.

"Oh man," Tim said, "well, that sucks. Are you certain that you don't want to, you know, give me a try? I mean, I could be better then your man."

"Hm, I don't think so," she said, "you see, my boyfriend, well, he's kind of got that whole dark and brooding thing going on, and its really attractive, and you're just…you're not brooding."

Rory snickered slightly at her friend. Then something hit her. Lane was describing Jess. She was using Jess as her fake boyfriend. Did that mean…no, that wasn't possible. That wasn't even remotely possible. But what if it was? Oh. My. God.

This…this was a sign…that's possibly the end of the world.

"I…I could be brooding," Tim said in a way that was almost a disappointed whimper.

"Sorry," she said, "brooding isn't something you can learn. You either are or you aren't."

"Oh," he said, "okay. Well, maybe another time then."

"It isn't likely," she said, patting him sympathetically on the back and then he went off, looking like a distraught puppy dog which would have looked cute if he weren't so annoying.

Brooke, who had been flirting with some guy who was by the counter, came back over just in time to see Tim leaving the table. "Oh my god," she said disgusted, "was that Tim I just saw?"

"Well, if Tim's blond and annoying, then yeah," Lane said, "that was him."

"What exactly was he doing here? He usually doesn't come out of his little rat hole unless he wants to hit on someone," Brooke said, sitting down in between Lane and Rory.

Rory laughed. "That was exactly what he was doing," she said, "he was trying to get Lane to give him some, uh, 'lovin'." Brooke looked at Lane sympathetically.

"You are so screwed," she said.

Lane and Rory exchanged glances and then Lane looked at Brooke. "Why?" she said, suddenly worried.

"Because," she said, "you just got Tim interested in you. He's so never going to leave you alone."

"What do you…but he seemed like he was," Lane said.

"The thing about Tim is that the more repulsed you are by him, the more attracted he is to you," she said, "so now basically you've just become the great of his life."

"Oh…crud," Lane said, hitting her head on the table, feeling as though the world was now officially ending. Rory however couldn't help but think it was the funniest thing in the world.

"My, my," she said, "what will the guy you're 'spoken for' think?"

Lane let out a groan. "You say a word about this to Jess and I will kill you," she said.

Rory chuckled. "I never said anything about Jess. You said something about Jess, which means that you were the one who was thinking about Jess. So, why were you thinking about Jess?"

Lane looked up. "I wasn't thinking about Jess," she said, "I wasn't thinking about Jess. I just assumed that you were thinking about Jess because I mentioned the whole brooding thing so I was just correcting what you could have possibly been thinking."

"Whatever Cleopatra," Rory said, laughing.

Lucas Scott had never felt more like a babbling idiot. Actually, Lucas Scott had never felt like an idiot more then at this particular moment. He sighed. "Well, I'm glad we got that all out in the open."

"Yeah, right," Peyton said, "you're not glad this is all out in the open. I've ripped open you're ego and rubbed salt into your wounds. You're not Mr. High and Mighty guy anymore."

"I still find it weird that I can go away for several months and then come back and you can still know me so well," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders in a friendly way.

"Yeah, well, when you see a person go from a nice guy to an ass you pretty much know them like the back of your own hand," she said, "because you've seen them at their best and you've seen them at their worst."

"I don't know if its comforting to know that you know me well or if its not comforting at all," he said.

"I'd take it as a comfort," she said, "because I'll be able to keep you from screwing up with this girl the way you screwed up with Brooke and I. So basically I'll be able to save you're ass from being single."

"Well, that's good to know," he said, "but I'm still single, technically. I haven't exactly done anything about the Rory situation. I mean, I haven't exactly done anything about what happened in Stars Hollow. We haven't even brought it up yet."

"Well then, you need to bring it up," she said, "don't think this girls going to wait around for you, Luke. Because girls don't like waiting. We're notorious for being impatient."

"Girls or just you?" Lucas said jokingly.

Peyton shot him a glare. "Not funny," she said smacking him lightly on the shoulder and Lucas pretended to be wounded.

The two of them paused, just looking at each other. "It's good to have you back, Luke," she said.

"It's good to be back," he said, "if only for a while."

"So what are you going to do about this girl, Lucas?"

Lucas sighed. "I don't know," he said, "I really don't know."

Peyton really wasn't certain what to do or say. So instead, she just gave him a friendly hug to comfort him. But then…she realized that someone was watching. That someone being Brooke, who was with two girls, the brown haired one being the one she assumed was Rory, the girl who Lucas currently liked and who liked Lucas and were just coming out of Karens Café.

Here's the thing about realizing that you are a moron---it's never very pretty. You get this sinking feeling in your stomach like you've just eaten something bad and suddenly, you're face is red. You're face is red because you're blushing because you know that you've just done something incredibly stupid. Rory Gilmore was experiencing these sensations now. These sensations were not something that she enjoyed at all as she watched Lucas being hugged by a pretty blond girl who she had seen in pictures who she knew to be Lucas's ex whatever named Peyton.

And apparently, that ex whatever wasn't just an ex anymore. The way they were hugging each other, it looked almost like they were…rekindling whatever it was that they had been.

"Oh. My. God," she exclaimed, because it was the only thing that she could think of to say. The only thing she could think of to do at this particular moment was to run…which she did. So fast that she might have given Superman a run for his money if he didn't run at the speed of light. Okay so she didn't run but she did walk fast.

She heard Lucas calling her from behind. "Rory!" he called. "Rory!" She continued walking faster and ignored him. He was the last person that she wanted to talk to right now. Actually she didn't want to talk to him at all.

The only thing that she felt like doing was hurling on the side of the street and then getting the hell out of this too, too small town. Well actually it was bigger compared to Stars Hollow, but at this particular moment it made a rabbit hole seem big.

She heard footsteps running behind her. Naturally Lucas had caught up with her. He was a guy and an athletic guy at that. She silently cursed him for his athletic ability.

"Go away," she snapped at him as he fell into pace beside her.

"I don't have to do that," he said.

"If you know what's good for you right now, I suggest that you do," she said.

"Well if people took every suggestion seriously Ricky Martin would still be on the radio and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen would be punk and know who Starsailor and Electric President are."

Rory kept on walking ignoring his comment. Under normal circumstances she would have laughed. This however was not a normal circumstance. She was pissed off at him and she didn't feel like laughing at this particular moment.

Lucas sighed. "C'mon Rory," he said, "you know I'm a good guy. That wasn't anything. Not that it matters since we're not exactly anything at the moment because you've been avoiding me like the plague."

Rory glared at him, stopping in her tracks. "I have not been avoiding you like the plague."

"Yeah, you have been," Lucas said, "you've been avoiding what you came here to talk to me about."

"Oh because you've been so chatty about it," she said, "you've been with Brooke or Peyton most of the time. I've seen you for like, an hour at the most."

"So, I guess we need to talk then," Lucas said.

"Go talk with Peyton then because I'm really not in the mood," she snapped.

"_Rory," _Lucas said in a tired tone, "I don't want to talk with Peyton."

"Well it sure looked like you did just a few minutes ago."

"Well, I don't."

"Then why were you?"

"Because," he said, "I know why you came to Tree Hill and it wasn't because you wanted to come and visit Nathan and Haley. It was because of us, and because you kissed me."

"You were talking to Peyton because I kissed you? Oh, well that makes complete sense. I'm so glad I kissed you. At least now I know where I stand," she snapped.

"Rory, I didn't mean it like that," Lucas said, running a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated. "I meant..." he noticed that she wasn't looking at him. "Ror, come on. Look at me."

"I don't particularly feel like it," she said, "I might burn a hole through the middle of your eyes because I'm so pissed off at you right now."

"Rory," he said in that pleading tone of his that made it so that it was remotely impossible for her to not do what he wanted. Rory sighed and bit her lip in hesitation, and then with reluctance, she looked directly at Lucas.

"I didn't go to Peyton to talk to her about getting back together," he told her, "I went to Peyton so I could apologize to her for my screw up last year. I knew that I liked you and that I was going to tell you this after that kiss and then that accident happened, and then I was going to tell you today. Only I realized that would be stupid. I'm back home with two girls I cared about once upon a time who I've got unresolved issues with. I didn't want to get into something with you only to screw it up again because I had left over feelings with Peyton or Brooke or whoever. If I'm going to be with you, I want to just be with you and not have second thoughts. Now that I've got my issues out of the way I know that I don't have any second thoughts. I want to do this thing with you right, Rory. Because whatever it is that we have...or are going to have, that's not something that I want to screw up."

"Well," Rory said after a moments pause, "its good to know that this isn't something you want to screw up."

"I thought you'd be happy to hear that," Lucas said, smiling.

"Now what is this again, exactly?"

Lucas's smile only widened. "We are two people who just happen to be in love with one another," he said.

"Huh. So that's what this feeling is. Good to know, because I was thinking it was something funny I had," she said, "so, what do we do now?"

"Well, generally this would be the point that I would ask you out," he said, "so would you like to go out?"

Rory smiled. "I think I would," she said. Lucas gave her a hug and then kissed her on the forehead. Her stomach did a little flutter thing and she couldn't help but think what a nice feeling it was.

Lane, Brooke, and Peyton (who they had forgotten were standing not too far away) looked on with smiles. "Wow," Peyton said, "so that's love. I never thought I'd live to see it."

"Looks nice," Brooke said.

"Yes it does," Lane agreed and they watched a little longer before the three girls headed down the street in the opposite direction, leaving the two lovebirds alone to enjoy each others company.

**A/N: So, I'm back! ;) Inspiration finally came to me. Next chapter----Christmas party and Tric with Rory and Lucas's first real date, Jess punches Tim for being an idiot, and something more happens between Jess and Lane then just him tickling her. I'd respond to reviews but my fingers hurt and I'm kind of tired so that'll have to wait until next time. But thanks to all who did and all who waited for this chapter. You guys are awesome. **


	24. somebodys miracle

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

Chapter Twenty-four

'Somebody's Miracle'

"Are you sure I should leave?" Lucas asked.

"No, we're not sure, but if you don't leave, Brooke's going to beat you," Haley said, laughing.

"Very funny," Lucas said sarcastically, looking towards Nathan and Haley's room where Brooke was taking over to help Rory get ready got the Christmas party that Peyton was throwing at Tric.

"Lucas, seriously, it's Brooke," Haley said, "it's not like I'm turning Ru Paul loose on Rory or something."

"Still," said Lucas, "its Brooke. That's not comforting either."

"Look, if Brooke breaks out the mini-skirts and anything that Hugh Hefner would find acceptable for one of his photo shoots I promise I'll tell her no," Haley said.

"You promise?" said Lucas, and even though the words came from Haley, he was still somewhat skeptical. Hey, it _was_ Brooke.

"Promise," said Haley smiling.

"Alright, alright," said Lucas, "but if Rory gets forced into anything she doesn't want to wear-"

"Good god are you her boyfriend or her brother?" said Haley. "Go, get out. You are officially _banned _from this apartment for the night. _NATHAN!" _

Nathan came out from where he'd been assuring Peyton he'd take care of the last minute details that had to be taken care of for the club. "You bellowed?" he said.

"Ha ha," said Haley, "look, can you get Luke out of here before Brooke kills him for not letting her do her thing?"

"C'mon Luke, let's go," said Nathan, "I can't have only one person around to piss Dan off, which is what will happen if you continue to annoy Brooke. Come on."

"Fine," said Lucas, "fine, fine."

Nathan kissed Haley on the forehead and then he and Lucas left, leaving the girls to do a makeover on Rory.

"Seriously, guys, I don't need a makeover," said Rory, "I know how to do my makeup fine, and my dress---"Rory was saying as Haley walked into the room.

"Your dress looks like you stole it from Dorothy's closet," said Brooke, "and while the school girl look can work, it _doesn't _work for a party."

"And the Santa's Playboy Elf look does?" Rory said, looking at Brooke's red ensemble which was topped off with a traditional Christmas elf hat.

"Exactly," said Brooke.

"Hey, nothing Hugh Hefner would like, okay Brooke?" said Haley. "It took me an three hours to convince Lucas that you weren't going to ruin Joey Potter over here."

"Hey, enough with the _Dawsons Creek _references," said Rory.

"Sorry," said Haley, "if it makes you feel better, I put up with it for years before Nathan. Skillz just couldn't be convinced that a guy and a girl could be friends."

"Whose Skillz?" said Rory.

"You'll meet him later," said Haley.

"Okay, seriously people, enough with the chatter," said Brooke, "I have to pull a _She's all that _makeover in twenty minutes, and the more you people talk, the less time we have, so shut it."

"Hey Brooke," said Peyton, "why is bitch being a-"

"Its old, Peyton," said Brooke, "now shut it, and give me that damn makeup kit."

Rory looked darkly at Haley. "Death to you if she goes for the hooker lipstick and glitter," she muttered, and Haley just smirked.

Exactly twenty minutes later, Rory Gilmore had had her movie-makeover moment and was said to have been completed by Brooke. The end result was that her hair was lightly curled, she wore a cream white dress that was something Brooke owned, and was something that any _Gossip Girl _book character would approve of, but at the same time classy enough that both Lucas and Rory wouldn't kill Brooke for.

"Damn, the girl next door cleans up nice," said Peyton when Rory came out from the bathroom to show them the completed look.

"Lucas is _so _going to want to sl-"Haley, Rory, and Peyton all narrowed their eyes at Brooke, knowing how she was going to finish that sentence. "I mean, Lucas is so going to want to go on a _sleigh ride _with you when he sees you."

"Lame save, Brooke," said Peyton, "everyone knows there's no where we could have a sleigh ride."

"Right, right," said Brooke, "well, you wouldn't let me finish the dirty innuendo so I had to come up with something. And what's with all the glares anyway? I would think that, being his girlfriend, Rory would want Lucas to sleep with her."

"I'm kind of hoping he doesn't right away," said Rory, "considering his history of getting into things to fast. I'd like for us to have a relationship before we go into anything like that. And any talking about sex could you know, jinx it."

"Okay then," said Brooke.

"Hey guys," said Peyton, "where's Lane?"

"Oh," said Rory, "she's convincing Jess to go, but he doesn't want to. He says he's not a Christmas party person, and he thinks Liz Phair's lame because she's lost all her bitchy credit by singing songs that are on soundtracks to Mandy Moore movies."

"Yeah, well I tried to get Rob Zombie, but you know, I didn't think that would get people into the holiday spirit," said Peyton.

"I would like to see the perky Korean try to get the broody rocker there to the Christmas party though," said Brooke, "that would be some hot, hot, banter underlined with sexual tension."

Rory just looked at Brooke like she was crazy. "Jess and Lane-seriously?"

Haley, Brooke and Peyton looked at Rory like she was daft. "Seriously," they all said in unison.

"I don't see it," said Rory.

"Clearly Stars Hollow isn't an all couples all the time town like we are because Rory here hasn't learned how to spot a potential relationship yet," said Peyton.

"Clearly," said Brooke.

The last time Lane Kim had had this much trouble convincing someone to do something was when she had to convince her Mother to let her go to Rory's school project/ production of _Romeo and Juliet. _Convincing Jess to go to a Christmas party was ten times harder.

"Jess, if you don't get your butt up right now and get in that cruddy car we drove here in, I'm going to _drag_ you into it and drive you there myself," said Lane.

"You are _not _driving my car," said Jess, sitting up straight suddenly.

"I thought that might get your attention," said Lane, "you're going."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I don't want to go to the Christmas Party," said Jess, "I don't want to be stuck in a room with a bunch of people I don't know and have to socialize and I don't want to have to eat crappy sugar cookies and listen to some hack musician."

"You are going," said Lane.

"Why?"

"Rory needs you," said Lane.

"She'll be on a date. I'm fairly certain that she won't be needing me," said Jess, "if she did, I'd have to ask some questions about the future of her and Lucas's relationship."

"I promise to let you continue our argument about which version of the song 'Hurt' sounds better," said Lane, "and I'm _still_ siding with Johnny Cash."

Jess perked up slightly at that, and Lane could have sworn she saw him smile for a moment. "Fine," said Jess, "but I'm bringing ear plugs. There's no way I'm listening to Liz Phair."

"Bring 'em, but I guarantee you'll be changed once you hear Somebody's Miracle," said Lane, "it's going to make you smile."

"Whatever," said Jess, "You're not driving."

"You're not picking the music," said Lane.

"But it's my car," said Jess.

"I have to have something to calm me down while you're behind the wheel," said Lane pointedly. "Unless you want me to puke from my nerves because you're driving is scarier then Jennifer Love Hewitt's attempt at covering Janis Joplin's Me and Bobby McGee."

"Fine," said Jess.

"Oh wait," said Lane, "we should probably ask Karen if she needs help closing up since she's going to have to go to Tric soon too."

Jess looked over at Lucas's Mom, who was busy with Keith, both cleaning up the place so that they could leave. "Somehow, I think she'll be fine."

"Fine," said Lane. The two of them then left and headed for the club.

Tric was something that Peyton had started when she'd wanted a club for all ages so that everyone could enjoy great music. She'd gotten Nathan's Mom, Deb, in on it, and Deb had gotten Karen in on it and together the three of them ran it. When Nathan and Haley had first announced they were married, Peyton and Brooke had thrown a party for them in the building that had become Tric.

The place was incredibly popular, and everyone liked it. For the nights festivities, the club had been decorated out in Christmas themed colors, the classic green and red, and the famous indie-rock chick, Liz Phair, was playing all due to Peyton's ability to track down great musicians and her persuasive abilities and Deb Scott's cash.

Lucas, who hadn't been there for the creation of Tric, had to admit that he was completely impressed by the whole thing. "Wow," he said upon entering with Nathan, "this place is great."

"Yeah," said his brother, "Peyton's really outdone herself. She's good at this club thing. I won't be surprised if she owns like, twelve of them or something in the future. That and the place made an awesome reception hall."

"Wish I could have been there," said Lucas.

"Well, you've been to Tree Hill parties before man," said Nathan, "it as exactly like every other one of them. Makeup's, break ups, and fighting."

"Right," said Lucas, "I didn't miss much."

"Yep," said Nathan, "although, yeah, it would have been nice to have you there."

"Oh well," said Lucas, "whatever."

"Um man," said Nathan, "I believe Cinderella has arrived."

"What?" said Lucas.

Nathan pointed behind Lucas and Lucas looked in that direction and was awed when he saw Rory walking in wearing a white dress, looking beautiful, and making Lucas, erm, rather…_excited_. Calm down boy, Lucas thought to himself. "Wow," said Lucas when Rory came up to him, "you look…"

"Can you insert an adjective to finish that sentence or am I to take that pause for breath taking?" said Rory.

"Take the pause to mean breath taking," said Lucas.

Just then Brooke, Peyton and Haley walked in. "So Lucas Scott, you haven't had a heart attack I take it that you're liking Rory's upgrade," said Brooke.

"It's not an upgrade, because Rory didn't need an upgrade, but I'm definitely liking this," said Lucas, smiling at Rory, who smiled back.

"You can apologize for doubting me later," said Brooke and she bounced off to go say hi to some other people who she knew that were also at the club.

Haley walked over to where Nathan was and sat down on his lap. "She's crazy, but you have to admit, Brooke does know fashion," said Haley.

"Well she did do an awesome job on that uh-'honeymoon look'," Nathan said, winking at Haley, reminding her of the wedding gift Brooke had gotten Haley, and Haley giggled.

"Right then…we're off to go find a dark corner to make out in," said Haley.

"Gross. Haley, there's a thing as too much information," Lucas said, "that was a prime example of something your brother in law _doesn't _need to here."

"Whatever," said Haley, and she dragged Nathan off.

Lucas and Rory were both pointedly looking at Peyton now, making it clear that they wanted her to leave so that they could be left alone. "Right," said Peyton, "I'm just going to go….check on some important club stuff. Have fun, you two." She then quickly left, leaving Rory and Lucas alone together.

"So," said Rory, "you really like it?"

"Definitely," said Lucas, "although I loved you _before _the whole Cinderella thing too, you know."

"Good to know," said Rory. Lucas kissed her on the forehead, making her smile. "So," she said, "you want to follow Haley's example and go occupy the _other _dark corner in the club?"

Lucas smirked. "Most definitely," he said. The two of them then went and did exactly that.

"Oh my god that was the _worst _drive I've ever taken in my entire life and that includes the one with my aunt when I went to Korea that one summer," said Lane.

"I don't drive that fast," Jess objected as he opened the door to the club for her.

"Yes, you do," said Lane. "You could have made Superman look slow, and he's faster then the speed of light."

"It _wasn't _that bad," said Jess.

"My life flashed before my eyes," said Lane.

"You clearly don't live dangerously enough then," said Jess, "because I wasn't going _that_ fast."

"Yes, you were," said Lane, "If that cop hadn't been busy eating his doughnut, he totally would have pulled you over and given you a ticket."

"Not true," Jess said.

"You're Dale Earn heart," said Lane.

"Whatever."

"You shouldn't have a license."

"You shouldn't be able to call yourself a music fan since you think that the Johnny Cash version of 'Hurt' is better then the original by Nine Inch Nails."

"Don't try and change the subject, you almost killed me tonight," said Lane.

"I didn't almost kill you because a car wreck wasn't how I'd planned your death," Jess retorted.

"And how did you plan it?" said Lane.

"I planned on putting an ice pick through your skull like in that one episode of _Bones_," said Jess.

"Good. When I'm dead I'll tell the psychic that Rory will contact to find out who killed me to look for an ice pick, and that you did it," said Lane.

"Whatever," said Jess, "and I don't drive fast."

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't."

"Children, will you two please go make out already?" said the familiar voice of Brooke, who had come out of nowhere. "The tensions killing me."

Jess and Lane just looked at her like she was a crazy person. Brooke sighed irritably and then walked off, annoyed with the two.

"Um, Lane," said Jess. "There's some weird guy staring at you."

Lane cringed, and looked to where Jess was pointing and sure enough there was the Tiim guy from at the café earlier. "Ew," she said, "it's _Tim_."

"It's who?" said Jess.

"That annoying guy," said Lane, "he was at the café earlier today. He was hitting on me. He was totally gross."

"Lane, why would anyone hit on you? You're all wholesome and what not," said Jess.

"Oh nice," said Lane, "I'll have you know I've been hit on plenty of times before. That's beside the point though. The point is that this gross guy is coming over, and he's going to talk to me, and I need to deter him from doing that." She was now looking at Jess pointedly.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" said Jess.

"I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend," said Lane.

"Why?" said Jess.

"Because I sort of-told the Tim guy that you were my boyfriend," said Lane.

"What?" said Jess in shock. "Why on earth would you do that?"

"Because," said Lane, "you were the first name that came to mind."

"Why?" said Jess.

"Because," said Lane, "I was trying to get rid of him. I was desperate."

"Oh god," said Jess, "You have a thing for me or something Lane Kim?"

"No," said Lane, "I don't. I'm telling you, I just had to say something to get rid of him."

"You could have made up a name and yet you mentioned mine," said Jess, and he was sounding strangely smug about it.

"I didn't have time to make up a name," Lane said.

"You told him you were dating me," said Jess, "to get him off your back. You like me."

"No," Lane was lying, "no, I don't like you."

"You totally do," said Jess, "you _like _me."

"No I don't," said Lane.

"Lane Kim," said Jess, "I'm going to kiss you and if you kiss me back I'm going to take that as confirmation that you like me."

"What, but I just said that I don't-"Lane was interrupted by Jess kissing her full on, on the lips, and it involved tongue and everything. They broke apart after a few minutes, coming up for air.

"So," said Jess, "you kissed me."

"Shut," said Lane, "up."

"You _like _me," said Jess.

"So," said Lane, sounding kind of hurt suddenly, "what does it matter? You don't like me."

"What do you mean I don't like you?" said Jess. "I've been doing nothing but flirting with you for months now."

"Yeah, but you'd flirt with anything that had boobs," said Lane, "besides, I know you're joking. You don't like me. You like Rory."

"Correction," said Jess, "I used to like Rory. Rory hasn't given me the time of day since I got back to New York. She kissed me at Sookie's wedding and then Lucas got here and it was like, Jess who? I don't like Rory. I used to like Rory. For a long time now, I've liked you."

Lane was looking at him in shock. "Jess Mariano," she said, "this had better not be a joke."

"No joke," said Jess, looking at her seriously.

"Good," said Lane, "because I like you to and that pervy Tim guy is getting really close and now it looks like I've got a date to tell him to go away."

"Actually," said Jess, "it looks like you've got a _boyfriend _to keep him away."

"Seriously?" said Lane.

"Seriously," said Jess, smirking at her.

"Well, merry Christmas to me," said Lane, "looks like I got everything that I wanted."

"Same here," said Jess.

Just then the Tim guy walked over. "Hey there, café girl," said Tim, "how about making the Timster have a merry Christmas and givin' me some lovin'?"

Jess stepped forward just then. "How about backing away from my _girlfriend _before I punch you and make _my_ Christmas merry?"

Tim looked at Jess in shock, then at Lane. "You weren't kidding about the whole boyfriend thing?"

"Nope," said Lane smiling.

"Man," said Tim, "that sucks." Then he walked away, looking like a disappointed puppy dog.

Lane and Jess both looked at each other and laughed. "So, you want to go and find some mistletoe?" said Jess.

"We don't need mistletoe," said Lane, and she leaned in and kissed him. Then they kept on kissing.

Peyton Sawyer was over by the d-jay booth with Mouth, looking around at all the friends and happy couples celebrating Christmas together. "Okay, this is just depressing," said Peyton.

Mouth looked up from the records he was looking at in an attempt to find the song that he was going to play next. "What is?"

"This," said Peyton, "its Christmas, and I've got absolutely no one. Dad's not home, my friends are all busy with their love interests, and when all this is done, I get to go home to an empty house."

Mouth paused and then he said mysteriously, "Peyton, you might not be as alone as you think this Christmas."

"What are you talking about, Mouth?" said Peyton oddly.

"I can't say," he said, and gave her a funny look. "It looks like Karen needs some help at the bar. Why don't you give her a hand?"

"_What _were you talking about earlier Mouth?" Peyton demanded, wanting to know what he was being so mysterious about.

"Karen needs help," said Mouth and he went back to looking through records.

Peyton sighed and looked at Mouth oddly, then shook her head and went to go help Karen out.

Rory stopped kissing Lucas and Lucas looked at her with a pout on his face. "And just why are you stopping?"

"Because I need air," said Rory.

"Yes, but I really was enjoying this," Lucas said.

"Yeah well I am too, but I need air, I need to breathe," said Rory, "and if we want to continue doing this, then you need to breathe too."

"Only a few minutes, okay?" said Lucas.

"Only a few," said Rory.

Just then Lucas's cell phone rang. "Don't answer that," said Rory, "if you take that call then it's going to be more then a few minutes and we won't be able to go back to our making out, which I was rather enjoying."

The cell phone rang again and Lucas checked to see who it was. A funny look crossed his face. Then he looked at Rory apologetically. "Sorry," he said, "I have to take this."

"Luke," said Rory.

"It'll only take a few minutes, I swear," said Lucas, "and besides, didn't you say that you needed a few minutes to get air?"

"Okay fine," said Rory, "but if you're not back within ten, then _I'm _going to take that cell phone and keep it."

"Ten minutes, I swear," said Lucas.

"Fine," Rory said and she kissed him on the forehead and Lucas took a few steps away from her and answered his phone.

"So was your flight okay Jake?" Lucas said to his friend on the phone. Jake was a guy he'd been friends with his first year on the basketball team. Jake was a teenage father who had to be on the run from his baby's mother who wanted to take his kid from him. Lucas however was in contact with him for a special purpose. Peyton and Jake had had a thing for each other which had never fully become something and as a special Christmas present Lucas had found Jake and he was coming home to Peyton.

"Yeah it was," said Jake, "Jenny slept…well, Jenny slept like the baby she is."

"So are you on your way here?" said Lucas.

"Yeah," said Jake, "where's this place again?"

"In the back of town," said Lucas. "You can't miss it. It's a big brick building with a sign that says Tric on it. There should be a ton of people standing outside."

"Right then," said Jake, "does Peyton know?"

"Nope," said Lucas, "I thought it might be a nice surprise for her. You know, she hardly ever has good things happen. I just thought she might like the surprise."

"You know what Luke; I think she will," said Jake, "you're a good guy, Lucas."

"Thanks," said Lucas, "see you soon Jake."

"See you," said Jake. He hung up, and Lucas hung up his phone as well. Then he walked back to where Rory was a smile on his face.

"Wow," said Rory, "I've never seen my broody boy with such a smile on his face. Should I be jealous of whatever is making this smile?"

"No," said Lucas, "its nothing like that."

"Good to know," said Rory, "so you want to go back to that thing we were doing before?"

"Most definitely," said Lucas, and then he added, "are you sure that we should do this? I mean, if we keep it up we won't have mouths left."

"Not possible," said Rory, "now, let's get back to where we left, because I was rather enjoying it."

"Right then," said Lucas, "if you insist." The two of them went back to kissing like they had been before.

Brooke Davis sat looking awfully lonely all by herself. "Wow, that's no way for our class president to look," said Mouth, who had just sat down next to her at that very moment. "Shouldn't you be the life of the party?"

"I just can't get into the spirit," said Brooke, "I love the holidays because it's the one time of the year my parents actually pay attention to me and come home but the holidays are also a moment to have with someone you love and right now I'm a little lacking in the love department."

"Brooke, it's Christmas, not Valentines Day," said Mouth.

"But looking around at all the couples in the room, it might as well be," said Brooke. Mouth looked around and noted that all of his and Brooke's friends we're in fact making out, including Lucas who was kissing that girl Rory, Haley and Nathan, and those people that Brooke had introduced to him earlier, Jess and Lane.

"Well if you want, we can be lonely together," said Mouth.

Brooke smiled. "You're sweet Mouth," she said.

"Thanks," said Mouth, although Brooke couldn't help but note that there was something slightly off in his voice. Brooke just smiled because that was the only thing she could think of to do.

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, I want the person who wrote that song to go to hell," Peyton said as the twentieth person that night had started singing the Christmas carol. "When is Liz Phair going to get here? I thought she'd be here by now."

"Peyton, relax," said Karen, "Liz is going to get here and everything's going to be fine. Now will you calm down and tell me what the real problem is?"

"Problem-there's no problem," said Peyton, "I'm just crabby."

"Peyton, come on you can tell me stuff," said Karen, "honestly."

Peyton sighed. "I might just…be feeling a _little _crabby because I've got no one to spend the holidays with."

"Peyton, if that's it, you know that you can spend the holidays with us," said Karen, "I've already got Lucas's girlfriend and his friends staying, so you should come along."

"Well she can't come along," said a guy whose voice was familiar, "because she's already occupied."

Karen smiled mysteriously and Peyton turned around quickly to see who it was. "And just who are-"She smiled happily. "Oh my god, Jake!" Yes, it was Jake who was standing there, holding his little baby Jenny. "And you brought Jenny—wait---how---what----"

"Santa," Jake said mysteriously.

"Is Santa code for Lucas?" said Peyton.

"Santa is code for Santa and Santa doesn't look anything like Lucas," said Jake, "even Jenny knows that."

"Jake," said Peyton.

"Peyton," said Jake, "I just took a very long flight out to see you. Now are you going to kiss me or what?"

Peyton sighed, smiled, and then kissed him. Just then someone tapped her on the shoulder. Peyton reluctantly took her lips off of Jake's and then looked to see who it was. It was one of the people who worked at the club. "Liz is here," said the guy, "she's going to be ready in like fifteen minutes or something."

"Thanks," said Peyton. She then turned and looked at Jake. "So where were we?"

"I think we were right about here," said Jake, and he leaned in and kissed her again.

Twenty minutes later, Liz Phair was ready to be on stage, and Peyton went up to go and announce her. "What's up Tree Hill?" she said into the microphone and the crowd gave a loud cheer. "It's that time of year again people. So let's give it up for Liz Phair!" The crowd applauded and Peyton went off stage just as Liz was coming on.

Lucas, Rory, Nathan, Haley, Jess, Lane, Brooke, Mouth, and Jake had all gathered around a booth and were sitting together and Peyton went and sat down with them. "Well guys," said Lucas, "I'd say this is the best Christmas yet."

"Agreed," said Rory, who was nestled in his arms.

"Totally," said Peyton, who was sitting next to Jake and was now holding his daughter Jenny in her arms and looking at Jake with a smile on her face. Then she looked at Lucas, "Oh by the way Luke, and thanks for my Christmas present."

Lucas blushed slightly. "I've got no idea what you're talking about," said Lucas.

"Well I didn't mail a letter to Santa so-" said Peyton.

"Santa knows all," said Jake, "just accept it, Peyton."

"Oh yeah and Luke, I hope you liked your present too," said Brooke.

"Brooke you didn't get me-"

"Hey, that dress was for _both _you and Rory, and I _know _you enjoyed it because it cost me my entire allowance," said Brooke.

"Brooke, you said that dress came from your closet," Rory said pointedly.

"Yeah, it did," said Brooke, "I bought it for you and put it in my closet for safe keeping until I could convince you to wear it to the party."

"Right," said Rory.

"Oh yeah, and Nate and I got you two together, so that's our present for you," said Haley.

"And Jess and I helped," said Lane, "and don't worry about getting us anything, because by getting together, you gave us leave to get together and that was a present itself."

"How did us getting together help you guys get together?" said Lucas, completely confused.

Lane and Jess exchanged glances, and then laughed. "It'll be a story for your wedding," said Lane simply.

"Hey, we're not pulling a Naley," said Rory.

"Especially since my Mom would probably kill me," said Lucas.

"My Mom would probably rejoice, but I'd rather _not _have my Grandparents after my head," said Rory.

"We just meant sometime in the near future," said Jess, "relax kids."

"Oh, right," said Rory and Lucas in unison.

Brooke was smiling. "You know, I have to say this was a pretty good Christmas," she said.

"Yep," said everyone else.

"And it looks like we all got our miracles," said Peyton, just as Liz Phair started on the chorus of her song which went something like: _Baby, there goes somebody's miracle, walking down the street, there goes some other fairy tale, I wish it could happen to me, But I look at myself, wondering if I'm just too weak, to have such faith in myself… _

It was amazing, but in Tree Hill, a place where hearts were usually breaking, most of the hearts were whole that night. Everyone had their own miracle, and that itself, was a Christmas miracle.

The kids as well as the adults got home late last night. In the morning, Lucas woke early and rummaged through his room, looking for the present he had gotten Rory before he'd left Stars Hollow. Actually, he hadn't gotten it…he'd….well, he'd written it. He'd been writing it for a while, but he had only recently completed it and it was this, his novel that he was going to give to Rory for her Christmas present. Lucas found it, and headed out from his room to go out to the living room where Rory was sleeping on the couch.

"Rory," he said and he sat down on the couch in the empty space by Rory's feet. Rory groaned in her sleep.

"Rory," Lucas repeated her name. Still nothing.

"_Rory!_" Lucas said yet again.

Rory woke from her sleep, jumping, startled. "Lucas, what the heck?" she said. "Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"No," said Lucas, "I was just trying to wake you. Sorry."

"Its okay," Rory said and she smiled and leaned over and kissed him. Lucas kissed her back.

"Merry Christmas," said Lucas.

"Merry Christmas," said Rory.

"I wanted to give you something," said Lucas.

"Luke, you didn't have to get me anything," said Rory.

"Well I didn't," said Lucas, "I sort of…made it."

"You made it?" said Rory, confused.

"Since last year I've been writing a book," said Lucas, "it started as a journal, when I joined the Ravens, and then I turned it into a book. Last night….I finished it."

"You finished it last night?" said Rory.

"Yeah," said Lucas, "I did….and I want you to have it."

"You wrote a book for me?" said Rory.

"Well it didn't _start_ that way," said Lucas, "but you're so much apart of it that I _want _you to. It's your Christmas present." He took the manuscript from his back pocket where he was hiding it and handed it to her.

"This is for you," said Lucas.

"Lucas, this is amazing," said Rory.

"Thank you," said Lucas.

"Does it end happily?" Rory asked.

"I think so," said Lucas.

"Good," said Rory. "So are you going to read it to me?"

"If you want," said Lucas.

"Of course," said Rory.

"As you wish, then," said Lucas.

The two cuddled up next to each other, the blanket wrapped around them. Lucas took the manuscript from Rory, and started to read. "There are many myths about Ravens. Some call them tricksters, others say they're bad luck, whatever the case, it seems that Ravens have, and always will be, apart of my life…."

Rory Gilmore and Lucas Scott had started out as friends. He had been running from his past, with no intention of going out with another girl given the circumstances he had left back home. She hadn't even been looking for anyone. Yet somehow, they had found each other. That alone is a miracle itself-because very rarely do people find each other without looking. Rory brought Lucas back to love, and Lucas brought out the best in Rory. They were each other's miracles.

**The End **

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_A/N: So finally it's done. I never thought it would take this long, and I never thought I'd get to chapter twenty-four. I told you I would finish it and I did. I only hope you liked the ending. Thanks to all the reviewers who have been with me from the start of this story to the finish of it. Oh yeah, I just made a website for myself and I'm going to put a link to it on my profile page for this site so you can keep in contact with me there. I hope you all like the end, and once again, thanks for all the reviews and support. _


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